Nearly all Kentucky COVID-19 restrictions lifted

(The Center Square) More than 15 months after he first declared a state of emergency in Kentucky regarding COVID-19, Gov. Andy Beshear formally announced that capacity, social distancing and most mask requirements have been rescinded.

In their place is a new executive order that only requires masks in certain high-risk environments, identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as public transportation, long-term care and other health care facilities.

“While COVID-19 remains a threat, we are no longer in crisis,” the governor said at his final scheduled coronavirus press briefing after signing the new order.

The new orders have been anticipated since Beshear announced last month that he was removing the mask mandate for fully vaccinated people.

As of Friday, 2.1 million Kentuckians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, like other states, that number had plateaued over recent weeks as most in the older and more susceptible populations received their shots.

To encourage more people to become vaccinated, Beshear earlier this month announced the state would hold three drawings for $1 million each going to an adult who received at least one shot. The state would also hold three drawings to award full scholarships to an in-state public university for vaccinated adolescents ages 12 to 17.

Nearly 350,000 adults have registered for the drawing as have almost 20,000 adolescents.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 7,147 Kentuckians have died due to the coronavirus. Beshear said the state would create a permanent memorial to honor those who died.

The governor added though that orders his administration put into place, some controversial, kept the death toll from growing substantially. His orders have faced legal challenges in both state and federal court, and just on Thursday, the state Supreme Court held two hearings on cases related to them.

While nearly all of the emergency orders have been repealed, Beshear added that he will keep the state of emergency in effect for the time being. That’s necessary, he said, because several federal funding programs, including $96 million for vaccine distribution and administration, could be pulled without it.

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