LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Mayor Greg Fischer has a message for Louisville residents concerned about social media posts showing large gatherings of people around the city during the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

"We will be dispatching our police department as best we can through this, but we can't cover everybody," Fischer said during a teleconference Saturday morning. "Government is not the answer to everybody. We need parents to step up, know where their kids are (and) keep them where you can see them." 

Fischer said hundreds of people gathered Friday night at 13th Street and West Broadway and it looked like they were "reveling in the fact that, 'We're together and we're not going to listen to the establishment; our lives are going to go on here, and we're not going to be told how to live.'" A video circulating around Facebook appears to show the crowd watching some type of street racing. 

Many people contacted WDRB News with concerns about the gathering and wanted to know what's being done to stop these things from happening. Fischer said he hopes these people will realize they made a mistake and won't make it again.

"Rebellion is a normal kind of instinct in thinking that you're immune from any kind of damage; the virus doesn't care about that," Fischer added. "Science doesn't care about that. The virus is coming for all of us, and it's just looking for an opening. When there's large crowds, that's how the virus spreads."

The Louisville residents' actions also caught the attention of Gov. Andy Beshear, who mentioned the gathering during his daily COVID-19 briefing Saturday evening.

"We cannot have hundreds of people coming together in Louisville, which the mayor talked about happening last night," said Beshear, who prohibited "all mass gatherings" in a March 19 executive order. "If hundreds of people come together, several people are going to die because of it. That is what we are facing. We have to be better about passing that test of humanity." 

The Louisville Metro Police Department said in Facebook post Saturday it is "being made aware of large gatherings at parks where people are in close contact" and will respond to those complaints. Responding to those large gatherings will, however, likely take officers away from "potentially urgent calls," the department said. 

"We get it, the weather is nice & we all want to get out," LMPD said in the post. "... It is NOT safe to gather in crowds. Please, the safety of our city depends on us! We want everyone to stay healthy by practicing social distancing!"

To report large gatherings of people in Kentucky who are not following social-distancing guidelines, call 1-833-597-2337.

Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.Â