Gov. Andy Beshear announced Sunday that he and his family have quarantined after their exposure to a state trooper who tested positive for COVID-19.
The exposure occurred Saturday afternoon when the officer, who is part of Beshear’s security detail, drove with the family, according to a news release from the governor’s office. That officer received a positive test result Saturday evening, the governor said.
“The governor said his family and the trooper all wore facial coverings, but the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) recommend quarantine if an individual is within six feet of a positive person for more than 15 minutes,” the news release states. “Quarantine is used to keep someone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 away from others to limit possible spread.”
The governor announced the quarantine in a video.
Beshear and his family have tested negative and do not have virus symptoms, his office announced. They will remain in quarantine at the governor’s residence until cleared by the state Department for Public Health, officials said.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
