Gov. Andy Beshear announced that all non-life sustaining businesses in Kentucky will close to in-person traffic on Thursday. He said an executive order enforcing the closure will go into effect at 8 p.m that day.
Details specifying what businesses are life-sustaining will be released tomorrow, but Beshear said grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and gas stations are among those that will remain open.
The order is one of many that have temporarily shuttered some Kentucky businesses. Beshear ordered non-essential retail stores to close their doors to in-person business on March 23. An earlier order closed “public-facing” businesses like gyms and hair salons. Restaurants can continue to offer take-out, delivery or curbside service but dining rooms remain closed.
Beshear said the state is putting lives ahead of the economy — and residents must prepare to wait “however long it takes” before business and life returns to normal.
Thirty-nine new cases of coronavirus in Kentucky were confirmed today, marking the sharpest increase in cases across the commonwealth and bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 168. Beshear said he believes four people have fully recovered, and four people have died as a result of COVID-19 in Kentucky.
