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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has fired back – at least on Twitter – at Gov. Andy Beshear’s decision to collect license plate numbers of in-person churchgoers in the state on Easter weekend.

Beshear has ordered houses of worship to close indoor in-person services as part of the state's wider social distancing restrictions in force during the novel coronavirus threat. And while he did officially classify the Easter Bunny as an “essential worker” in the state earlier in the week, he stepped up his warning to churches defying his mass-gathering ban on Friday.

“We’re having to take a new action, and I hoped that we wouldn’t,” Beshear said. “It’s that any individual that’s going to participate in a mass gathering of any type that we know about this weekend we’re going to record license plates and provide it to local health departments,” Beshear said Friday. “Local health departments are going to come to your door with an order for you to be quarantined for 14 days.”

Late Friday, Paul answered back on Twitter, posting, “Taking license plates at church? Quarantining someone for being Christian on Easter Sunday? Someone needs to take a step back here.”

Beshear said that Kentucky is down to about seven churches considering in-person Easter Sunday services, and expected the actual number might only be three or four by the time Easter Sunday rolls around.

The governor said it’s not a move he took lightly. He noted that he’s a deacon himself at Beargrass Christian Church in Louisville and that his oldest son was scheduled to be baptized this weekend. But he said he would not bend on a matter of public health as the state enters what he says will be a critical stretch.

“Folks, we shouldn’t have to do this,” Beshear said. “I think it’s not a test of faith whether you’re going to an in-person service, it’s a test of faith that you’re willing to sacrifice to protect your fellow man, your fellow woman, your fellow Kentuckian, and your fellow American.”

The decision drew some quick protest via social media from some worshippers and pastors, who feel like churches are being singled out. Beshear said drive-through churches and online services are encouraged. Some communities – like Louisville – have prohibited drive-up services, a move Beshear said was up to local officials.

At least one Louisville church says it will sue to overturn a ban on drive-up services issued by Mayor Greg Fischer.

“I hear people say, 'It’s my choice,'" Beshear said. "Well, it’s not the person next to you’s choice ... This is the only way that we can ensure that your decision doesn’t kill somebody else, that your decision doesn’t spread the coronavirus in your county and in your community."

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