LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Governor Andy Beshear’s latest executive order is now in effect. All Kentuckians in public are required to wear a face mask, with some exceptions. The order went into effect at 5 p.m. on Friday and lasts 30 days, with subject to renewal.
Since opening day of Fun Tea in Louisville, owner Michael Hamburg has required the to-go boba tea shop customers to wear a mask. Now six weeks later, he said the store gives out up to 125 masks per day.
“I am diabetic so we just decided from day one to have everyone wear masks. When they drink they don’t have to, but otherwise, they have to,” said Hamburg, who co-founded the restaurant with his wife who is from Taiwan. Hamburg said when they both learned that Taiwan was rationing the selling of face masks to two per individual per week, he knew he needed to get some.
Hamburg said he secured 5,000 surgical masks in February 2020 because his wife has previous experience with SARS, so they both knew where the United States was headed before COVID-19 being declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
According to Beshear’s executive order, at a restaurant customers are required to wear a mask unless they are seated or eating and drinking.
President/CEO Stacy Roof with the Kentucky Restaurant Association said the requirement for patrons to wear a face mask has already been enforced at many restaurants across the Bluegrass State, but this executive order now provides back-up.
“It doesn’t have to be just their policy. It’s everybody’s policy now so it kind of helps them give, you know, more back-up to enforcement I suppose or encouragement to have those masks on,” Roof told Spectrum News 1.
According to the executive order, customers who won’t wear a mask to public businesses won’t be served. The order also states that penalties authorized by law may be given.
There are 12 exemptions to wearing face coverings, ranging from children who are age 5 and younger to any person with a disability, or a physical or mental impairment, that prevents them from safely wearing a face covering.
Hamburg doesn’t know the details of what these penalties may be, but he says it’s nice to now have an order that backs him up when he asks customers to wear a mask.
“We’ve had maybe one person out of 3,000 that refused [to wear a mask], and they walked out. And that’s fine by me. If you don’t want to wear a mask, then go somewhere else,” Hamburg said.
The governor's Executive Order has a full list of public locations where a face mask is required and who is required to wear them.
Roof with the Kentucky Restaurant Association said the non-profit is offering support and resources for any Kentucky restaurant, not just its members, to navigate this uncertain and difficult time for the industry due to the pandemic. If you have a question or want more information, email or call (502) 400-3736.