The following table shows the actions taken by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear since the first case of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was confirmed in Kentucky. Actions are listed by date from newest to oldest.
June 10 — Churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship can begin hosting congregants at 50% of their pre-pandemic capacities.
June 8 — Launching of a new effort that aims to provide health care coverage for 100 percent of black and African-American people in the commonwealth.
June 4 — Historical horse racing will begin June 8. NASCAR returns with no spectators on July 9.
May 28 — Kentucky Kingdom will reopen June 29 with extensive precautions in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.; announced state will reopen the four Kentucky State Park lodges on June 8 that were previously designated to provide temporary housing for low acuity COVID-19 patients, including those at Blue Lick Battlefield State Resort Park in Robertson County.
May 22 — Absentee Ballot Application Portal is now online. A link to the State Board of Election’s portal can be found at govoteky.com; interstate travel ban is lifted.
May 21 — Healthy at Work June schedule revealed including June 1, auctions, fitness centers, aquatic centers, bowling alleys, auto and dirt track racetracks, fishing tournaments, Kentucky State Park lodges and movie theaters can reopen; June 8, in-home child care programs can reopen. Horse shows can be held again. Aquariums, distilleries, libraries, limited outdoor attractions and museums can also reopen; June 11, Kentucky Horse Park and Kentucky State Park Campgrounds can reopen; June 15, Center-based child care programs can reopen, low-touch youth sports can restart; June 22, Businesses that are opening May 22 at 33 percent capacity can expand to 50 percent capacity a month later if they meet the guidelines; June 29, expanded youth sports can restart; bars, gatherings with 50 people or fewer and venues that hold 50 people or fewer can reopen if they meet guidelines.
May 20 — Beshear announced a $300 million award to city and county governments as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act
May 18 — Appointment of Mark Carter as executive adviser leading the contact tracing efforts in the Office of the Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
May 15 — The Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet will open Kentucky State resort parks, recreational parks, lodges and cabins to the public for normal business hours beginning June 1. Park guests will be required to follow social distancing and public health guidelines.
May 14 — Beginning May 22, groups of 10 people or fewer may gather and that the state’s travel ban is expiring the same day, the Friday ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
May 13 — Opening of the state’s health care sector. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services issued directives governing the opening of hospitals and other health care facilities. Beginning May 13, hospitals and care facilities can begin doing non-emergency surgeries and procedures at 50 percent of their pre-COVID-19-era patient volume.
May 8 — Kentucky Public Service Commission issued an order that halts utility disconnections for non-payment and fees for late payments.
May 7 — Announced the second phase of reopening the commonwealth’s economy.
All businesses should follow the 10 rules of staying healthy at work as well as industry-specific guidance, which will be issued as soon as possible.
May 6 — State is changing its travel restrictions to better comply with judicial findings and more closely mirror the guidance of neighboring states. Those traveling from out of state into Kentucky and staying are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
May 5 — State will begin an aggressive program to test patients and staff in long-term care facilities.
May 4 — More businesses will be allowed to open May 11 with new minimum requirements, as well as industry specific requirements; announced a new partnership to expand coronavirus testing in Northern Kentucky; announced a partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Distillers’ Association to get personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer to small businesses as they prepare to be Healthy at Work.
April 30 — Kentucky is one of the pilot states for a new program allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – or food benefits – recipients to use benefits online, including for delivery orders.
April 27 — Four phases of health care reopening and detailed guidance and dates for each phase released; dental offices may reopen under Phase 1; Beshear and Secretary of State Michael Adams announced new voting guidelines for the June primary; Beshear commuted an additional 352 sentences.
April 21 — Launch of “Healthy at Work,” a new initiative to help Kentucky businesses reopen safely.
April 20 — Advised the commonwealth’s education leaders to keep facilities closed to in-person instruction for the rest of the school year; the state has processed twice as many unemployment insurance claims since March 8 as it did in all of 2019.
April 17 — Discussed benchmarks that the commonwealth must meet in order to start reopening the state’s economy while keeping Kentuckians safe from the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).
April 16 — Kentucky is joining with Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan to closely coordinate plans to reopen the regional economies when the time is right; opening of state facilities to house people ill with or who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
April 15 — Revealed first stage of a unique testing regime, starting with frontline health care workers, that is designed to save lives and get people back to work; the field hospital at the Kentucky Exposition Center is now operational.
April 13 — Flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff for one week in honor of the more than 100 Kentuckians who have passed away due to COVID-19.
April 10 — Convened task force aimed at addressing concerns in Kentucky’s long-term care facilities.
April 9 — Natural Bridge and Cumberland Falls state resort parks have been ordered to close; expanded the number of workers who can receive workers compensation if they are ordered to quarantine.
April 8 —Executive order limiting the number of people in stores that remain open. Only one adult per household should shop at one time.
April 4 — Kentucky is adopting on a voluntary basis the new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending that people wear cloth masks in some situations.
April 3 — A new hotline (1-833-GIVE PPE) and website (giveppe.ky.gov) streamline the entire donation process. In addition, PPE donations now will be accepted at all 16 Kentucky State Police posts across the commonwealth and at Transportation Cabinet offices in Louisville and Lexington.
April 2 — School districts statewide extend the suspension of in-person instruction until at least May 1; commuted the sentences of 186 inmates and plans to commute the sentences of another 743 inmates in state custody; Kentucky State Parks no longer open for overnight stays; plans moving ahead to convert the state fairgrounds in Louisville into a 2,000-bed makeshift hospital; expanded an order restricting travel to include people from out of state coming into the commonwealth.
March 31 — Executive order allowing critical workforce sectors to rehire previously retired workers to fill key roles; executive order easing restrictions on nurses who live out of state and making it quicker to obtain a license.
March 31 — Issued an order that restricts out-of-state travel, with four exceptions: 1) travel to other states for work or groceries, 2) travel to care for loved ones, 3) travel to obtain health care and 4) travel when required by a court order.
March 28 — Asked mayors and county judge-executives to monitor people gathering in public places such as parks and stop them if people are not practicing social distancing and risking the spread of COVID-19.
March 25 — Unemployment eligibility expanded effective immediately due to COVID-19. Individuals typically not covered by unemployment insurance, including self-employed, independent contractors, freelance workers, substitute teachers, childcare workers employed by religious affiliated organizations and non-profits can now file; suspended evictions for the duration of the COVID-19 Emergency; Kentuckians would begin to see National Guard and additional law enforcement at local hospitals; new orders to allow for more telehealth options in Kentucky; effective Thursday, March 26, at 8 p.m., all non-life-sustaining businesses must cease all in-person services.
March 24 — Beshear would sign an executive order closing all non-life-sustaining businesses to in-person traffic by Thursday at 8 p.m.; Kentucky Department of Education has canceled plans to administer the K-PREP assessment for the 2019-2020 school year; state workers begin helping at food banks because of the low number of volunteers those organizations have seen during the coronavirus outbreak.
March 23 — Executive order to cease all elective medical procedures; establish the Team Kentucky Fund, a fundraising platform designed to provide financial assistance to Kentuckians whose employment has been affected by COVID-19; Beshear announced the COVID-19 Reporting Hotline. To report an incident, call 1-833-597-2337.
March 22 — All in-person retail businesses that are not life-sustaining will close effective Monday, March 23, at 8 p.m.
March 22 — Extended executive order to prohibit price gouging for 15 more days.
March 20 — Recommended Kentucky schools cease in-person instruction until at least April 20; successfully qualified state for Small Business Administration disaster certification; mirrored the federal government by delaying the tax filing deadline by three months from April 15 to July 15; Kentucky’s bourbon distillers are working with the state to produce and distribute hand sanitizer.
March 19 — Issued interim guidance for establishing partnerships between approved health care facilities and limited-duration child care programs to support child care for employees of health care entities, first responders, corrections officers and Department for Community Based Services workers; restaurants that have an active liquor license, that are also doing food delivery or carry out, may also deliver sealed alcoholic beverages, in their original containers to customers; issued a formal letter banning all mass gatherings.
March 18 — Issued executive order that encourages all Kentuckians to take all feasible measures to comply with social distancing guidelines from the CDC and the Kentucky Department for Public Health; Department of Community Based Services extended certification periods for all recipients of all public assistance programs for three months; made changes so that any of those who are now unemployed, who have lost benefits, can immediately apply for Medicaid; suspended all charitable gaming licenses
March 17 — Closed state government buildings across Kentucky to in-person services; executive order that by 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, all public-facing businesses to cease their operations; state is working with federal partners to continue the Child Care Assistance Program payments on behalf of qualified families for centers during the mandatory closure period. The state will also be covering co-payments typically covered by families; acute facilities should be discouraging all visitors at this time except for end-of-life circumstances; senior care facilities and intermediate care facilities should limit visitation to loved ones of those who are receiving end-of-life care, and for those residents they should expect to shelter in place.
March 16 — Executive order to close all restaurants and bars to in-person traffic. Exceptions for drive-through, delivery, and in some instances, take out; waived the waiting period for unemployment; asked childcare centers across Kentucky to close by end of business on Friday; provided a three month extension on driver’s licenses; postponed the primary elections by the 35 days allowed under state law. That means they will be moved to June 23, 2020.
March 15 — Brought Kentuckians on the Grand Princess cruise ship back home.
March 14 — Followed the emergency declaration from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which provides regulatory relief for commercial drivers who are providing direct assistance to COVID-19 relief efforts; USDA approved waiver to be able to serve meals to students during Non-Traditional Instruction; state agencies to decrease on-site staffing by at least 50 percent to reduce the spread of COVID-19; asked Kentucky hospitals to cease elective procedures by close of business Wednesday, March 18; asked childcare centers to create plans for closure they could implement within 72 hours if deemed necessary.
March 13 — Recommended the temporary closure of senior centers to help halt the spread of the virus for those most vulnerable; Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance will provide wage replacement benefits for first responders and medical personnel who have been quarantined for COVID-19 as a result of their increased risk of exposure in the course of their work.
March 12 — Recommended that all school superintendents in Kentucky cease in-person classes for an extended period of time beginning Monday, March 16.
March 11 — Instructed school districts to be prepared to close on short notice, as short as 72 hours; advised that all community gatherings should be cancelled or postponed; suspended out-of-state travel for state employees; encouraged all businesses to allow employees to work from home if at all possible.
March 10 — Limited visits to long-term care facilities and nursing homes, except in an end-of-life situation; executive order allows pharmacists to refill prescriptions for up to 30 days; closed all state prisons to visitors.
March 9 —Executive order to waive copays, deductibles, cost-sharing and diagnostic testing fees for private insurance and state employees; iInitiated changes to Medicaid, including eliminating prior authorization and any type of fees associated with testing or treatment for the coronavirus.
March 7 — Activated the State Health Operations Center; aAnnounced Kentucky’s COVID-19 hotline, 1-800-722-5725 and COVID-19 informational website, kycovid19.ky.gov; issued an executive order to prohibit price gouging; adjusted state government sick leave policy to ensure state employees who are sick can stay home; pPublished the CDC guidelines with warnings for high-risk individuals
March 6 — Declared a State of Emergency; activated the Emergency Management Operations Center.
