FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's governor said Thursday that the latest batch of grim COVID-19 statistics would have spurred him to order a statewide mask mandate indoors if he still wielded the authority.
But a recent Kentucky Supreme Court decision shifted such coronavirus-related decisions to the Republican-dominated legislature, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said.
Kentucky reported 65 more virus-related deaths along with its third-highest daily number of new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the highly contagious delta variant overwhelms hospitals.
“That would have been the trigger for me, if it was in my authority to put in a masking order for indoors across the state,” Beshear said of the Wednesday statistics. "Every other time we’ve been this high, we’ve done that and it’s worked. It has decreased the number of cases.”
“I can't do that now, and I get that,” the governor added. “And I'll provide all the information that I can to the General Assembly and hopefully they will make the best choice that they can.”
Senate President Robert Stivers said this week that such a blanket masking mandate would stand a “very limited chance” with lawmakers.
Beshear has been meeting with legislative leaders as he weighs whether to convene lawmakers for a special session to deal with COVID-19 issues.
The state’s Supreme Court last weekend gave lawmakers the upper hand when it cleared the way for new laws to limit the governor’s emergency powers, which he used to impose pandemic restrictions.
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