Governor Andy Beshear laid out some of the plans for a gradual reopening of Kentucky’s economy during his Wednesday afternoon briefing.
The beginning of Phase 1 on May 11 will include manufacturing, construction, vehicle dealerships, professional services at 50 percent capacity, horse racing without fans and dog grooming and boarding.
Governor Beshear says retail stores can reopen May 20 and churches can resume in-person worship with measures in place to reduce spread of COVID-19.
Social gatherings of 10 people or less can resume May 25—which is Memorial Day—and barbers, cosmetology businesses and similar services will also be able to reopen at that time.
The governor says restaurants are not included in Phase 1 at this time, but they are working with the industry to come up with a plan that will allow in-house dining at a capacity that is worthwhile to the business.
Noticeably absent from Phase 1 is day care services, which the governor says is disappointing, but necessary to reduce exponential contacts.
Gyms, movie theaters, camp grounds and hopefully youth sports will be included in Phase 2 in June or July.
There likely won’t be public pools or summer camps in Kentucky this year.
There were 184 new cases of COVID-19 reported from Tuesday to Wednesday, bringing the total to 4,549. Ten additional deaths brings the death toll to 235 since the pandemic began.
There are still 29,000 unemployment claims that were filed last month that are pending payment and the governor says Education Cabinet staff are working to address all of those in some way by the end of the week.
Tennessee now has 10,366 cases and 195 deaths. At least 5,140 people have recovered, Montgomery County picked up tWo cases and now has 141 total cases, Robertson is steady at 139 and Stewart remains at seven.
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