In his daily press briefing on Thursday, Kentucky’s governor announced a new executive order pertaining to face masks in public.
Andy Beshear said that beginning on Friday at 5 pm, citizens of the commonwealth will be required to wear a mask when in retail businesses, grocery stores, forward-facing businesses, and when not able to socially distance in outdoor/indoor events.
The governor said that the order will be in place for 30 days and if cases begin to decline, the order may be retracted.
Beshear said that the mandate will be enforced by local health departments and that business owners should follow the rule of “no masks, no service.”
During the briefing, he mentioned a study by Goldman Sachs that said that wearing a mask could save the economy 5% of the GDP. For Kentucky, this would be around $10.4 billion.
When asked about the potential of criticism, Beshear said both, “I’m willing to take whatever criticism,” and “the science is unquestionable.”
The governor explained that the decision to create the order came off of a recent increase in cases over the last 5 or 6 days and watching what has happened in other states.
Kentucky becomes the 23rd state to have a similar order.
Beshear will host another coronavirus briefing on Friday afternoon at 3 pm CDT.
By: Sam Gormley, Local News
(Picture Courtesy of the Associated Press)
