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

Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal
·2 min read
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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 that we'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.

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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.

"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 completed what 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 Governor’s 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."

Follow Lucas Aulbach on Twitter @LucasAulbach

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Andy Beshear quarantines as security worker is coronavirus positive