Gov. Beshear signs executive order ending all COVID-19 restrictions, mask mandates in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - Most mandates and restrictions are ending for COVID-19 across Kentucky.

Gov. Beshear made it official on Friday.

Governor Beshear says this was the final briefing to announce COIVD-19 numbers, updates and reports. And while cases continue to come in, and we are still seeing deaths, daily or several times a week briefings are coming to an end.

“But after 15 months of struggle and sacrifice, we can say this, while COVID remains a threat, we are no longer in crisis,” Gov. Beshear said.

And with that the governor signed a new executive order, but a much different one than others he’s signed during the pandemic. This one is to end the statewide mask mandate for most people and places, capacity restrictions for businesses, and healthy at work requirements.

The governor says all of this is possible because of the growing number of people getting vaccinated—now about 2.1 million.

“We are now over 82% of all Kentuckians 65 and up, and 58% of all Kentuckians 18 years and older,” Gov. Beshear said.

We are still seeing a relatively large number of deaths—nine on Friday and 17 on Thursday. The governor said some of those are people who actually died previously and he also made it a point to say of the nine deaths reported Friday, eight of them were not vaccinated.

The governor also reported 237 new cases of COVID-19 and a positivity rate of just over two percent.

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