Andy Beshear and family enter quarantine after coming in contact with person with COVID-19 – Courier Journal

Gov. Andy Beshear and other members of his family are quarantining after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, he announced Sunday afternoon in a video.

No members of the governor's family have tested positive for the coronavirus, he said in a taped statement alongside his son Will, and they feel "great," the governor said.

Still, Beshear said, "we want to make sure we're setting the example and thatwe're also keeping other people around us safe that we're walking the walk, not just talking the talk."

Beshear and his son were in "an empty part of the (governor's) mansion" when the video was filmed, he said. Other members of the family including his wife Britainy, daughter Lila and dog Winnie were not shown.

Andy and Britainy were last tested for the coronavirus on Thursday, according to spokeswoman Crystal Staley. They are quarantining in a part of the governor's mansion that is separate from any staff or staff activity, Staley added.

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The Beshears were contacted after a member of the governor's security detail who had driven family members on Saturday subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus, he said. The family did not come into contact with anyone after that interaction, the governor said.

Beshear family members and the trooper who later tested positive were wearing masks Saturday, according to a statement from Beshear's office, but the family was still recommended to quarantine due to the lengthy amount of time the two parties spent together.

"We're doing what those tracers ask us and others to do," Beshear said."We're going to be quarantining until the Department for Public Health says that we've completedwhat we need to."

In-person daily press briefings will not take place this week, he said, but will continue in video form.

Beshear is not the first U.S. governor to enter quarantine during the coronavirus era. Three governors have tested positive (Oklahoma's Kevin Stitt, Missouri's Mike Parson and Virginia's Ralph Northam) and have been required to isolate, while several others have quarantined when exposed to staffers who later tested positive.

Beshear will stay busy in the meantime, Staley added.

"While the quarantine will impact the Governors schedule, the Governor is committed to doing what so many other Kentuckians have had to do during COVID-19 work from home full-time," she said in an email. "The Governor will continue to safely host live press conferences remotely."

Lucas Aulbach can be reached at laulbach@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4649 or on Twitter @LucasAulbach. Support strong local journalism and subscribe:www.courier-journal.com/lucasa.

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Andy Beshear and family enter quarantine after coming in contact with person with COVID-19 - Courier Journal