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Executive order: Gov. Beshear mandating masks in Kentucky schools, child care centers again

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It's no longer a recommendation: Gov. Andy Beshear is now requiring, by way of executive order, face masks in all Kentucky schools and child care centers.

The governor announced the face-covering executive order Tuesday during his latest COVID-19 update. The mandate will be in place for all students 2 years and older, as well as staff, teachers and visitors.

The mandate will be in place for the next 30 days and can be renewed if needed, the governor said.

"This is how we make sure we protect our children, but this is also how we make sure that they stay in school," Beshear said.

Before introducing his new executive order, the governor had strongly called on school districts across the state to do their part in requiring face coverings. He did leave room for the school districts to allow exceptions for those who are vaccinated, but many of them decided to only recommend masks to begin the school year.

But with the rapid spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, and many schools changing their policies to require masks, Beshear decided to move forward with his executive order.

According to the mandate, the first issued since Kentucky got rid of its restrictions in June, all individuals will need to mask up when indoors in all public and private schools. That applies to teachers, staff, students and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.

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Gov. Beshear announces executive order requiring masks in schools

When it comes to schools themselves, the mandate is in place for all pre-school, Head Start, elementary, middle and high schools across the state.

The governor explained his decision to re-issue the face-covering mandate for schools was because of recent examples of school districts seeing high levels of spread and quarantines among students and teachers.

"So I'm going to have the courage to do what I know is right, to protect our children — I've always told people that I treat every Kentucky child like their mine, and treat every family like mine," Beshear said.

Beshear, again, stressed the importance of masks being able to keep students in school, rather than in quarantine or behind computers again.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce endorsed the mandate. President and CEO Ashli Watts says keeping kids in school is necessary to keep the economy open.

"We looked at the numbers in certain counties here in Kentucky and hundreds of students are now quarantined. That means hundreds of parents are probably not going to be able to go to work for the next couple of weeks. This cycle cannot continue," Watts said.

COVID hospitalizations are increasing at the fastest rate since the pandemic began, according to state health officials. Currently, 1,251 COVID patients are hospitalized, 339 are in the ICU, and 168 are on a ventilator.

Miriam Haas is a nurse manager at Norton Brownsboro, where they are seeing more pediatric patients requiring treatment.

"These past few weeks as we have been seeing more patients with the Delta variant we have had to deal with a new problem -- younger patients who become unstable more unpredictably," Haas said.

In the Louisville region, Jefferson County Public Schools —the largest school district in the state — was the first to require masks for students and staff. Other school districts began moving to require face coverings this week amid sharp increases in hospitalizations and community spread, both issues impacting children who are not of age to be vaccinated.

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