FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- At 5 p.m., thousands of people welcome Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear into their homes for his daily briefing on the coronavirus.
But some are paying more attention to the person standing next to the governor.
Virginia Moore has literally become the governor's left-hand woman during the coronavirus crisis, using her signing skills to communicate Beshear’s message to more than 700,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the commonwealth.
“When this started happening, I contacted the governor's office and said, 'Can we help?'” Moore told WDRB News at the Capitol.
Since then, Moore has become a constant presence at Beshear's coronavirus updates, standing at a socially distant 6 feet away.
“This is the first time the deaf and hard-of-hearing community has had complete access to what the governor has to say and emergency information that needs to go to them,” she said.
Moore is a Louisville native and executive director of the Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She said signing is really her first language.
“I have a large deaf family," she said. "Both my parents are deaf.”
But Moore said signing for the governor during this crisis is more than just capturing his words.
“It is a little difficult to hear it and then have to convey it with the same emotion he does and not put your own emotion in there,” she said. “But we work on that.”
In the process, Moore has become a celebrity in her own right
“I had somebody stop me just outside the Capitol wanting to take a picture with me and their family. And I thought, ‘Well, OK, but social distance everybody, social distance,’” she laughed.
Moore has even been featured in several social media memes.
“If people are sitting at home and want to make a meme that is good-hearted and light and fun, that's great," she said.
Moore said she is getting many messages of appreciation from the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
“Most of all they’re saying, ‘This is fantastic. I’m getting it just like my neighbors are. I don’t have to run next door and say, OK, what was this about?’” she said.
Moore is using her new-found fame to continue to advocate for the hearing impaired.
“If there's anything good that's come out of all this ... is we understand that communication is not just to the hearing. It's to all," she said. "And having that interpreter there is imperative.”
Moore said she is prepared to translate the governor's remarks for as long the crisis lasts. But, like everyone else, she hopes that is not too much longer.
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