Last month, Governor Andy Beshear recommended that school districts in the state implement a masking policy for students and staff prior to the start of classes this month. The result was 48 of the state’s 171 school districts — or 28-percent — requiring a mask.
On Tuesday, Beshear took the option out of the school’s hands and issued an executive order that requires masks in all K-12 schools, child care centers, and pre-kindergarten classes regardless of vaccination status.
click to download audioThe executive order runs for 30 days but like past mandates issued by the governor, it can be renewed.
Beshear said the mask mandate for schools falls in line with recommendations by state and federal health agencies.
click to download audioBeshear also cited numbers released in Warren County Tuesday. After three days of school with no mask mandate, the school system has reported 95 positive cases of COVID-19 and 700 staff and students in quarantine. The school had announced they were going to require masks starting Wednesday.
The move by the governor comes as the state is reporting its highest number of hospitalizations and ICU census due to COVID-19 since February. Beshear said a central Kentucky health department director told him the state needs to be concerned with those numbers.
click to download audioKentucky reported over 2,500 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday — the most in a day since January 11.
