LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Signs were up across the Bluegrass on Friday welcoming the fully vaccinated to enter without a mask.
At the YMCA in Bourbon County, guests were permitted to enter and workout without a mask for the first day since the pandemic began. CEO Drew Beckett said he felt like it was time.
"We've kind of been at this for quite a long time during this pandemic, so I think everybody was excited that we could maybe take this next step forward," said Beckett.
Beckett says there's been a lot of positive feedback from guests.
"Almost immediately, we got feedback from the email that we sent out regarding that. I think the majority of people are excited, ready to move on to this, this next step," said Beckett.
Sam's Hot Dog Stand in Lexington put out a sign in front of their shop inviting their guests to do the same.
"We just really want to follow the CDC guidelines and abide make everyone happy, which we're not going to do anyway. People are gonna be mad at us, if we do this, mad at us if we don't. We do have our vaccination cards here. There are two employees, we're both vaccinated. We have been for a while. We just have to rely on people to be honest really," said Owner Jeny Tobin.
Some businesses are still trying to decide how they want to enforce the changes. Zim's Cafe in Lexington is keeping their mask required sign for the time being.
"Right now, it's a little weird. It's hard to since everything started yesterday, and what today is the real start so we're trying to figure out what the guidelines are going to be. The CDC hasn't really given us anything. So we'd like people to wear masks especially since it's a restaurant just to make everybody feel comfortable. It's hard to discern who's been vaccinated, who hasn't. So right now we're just waiting to figure things out," said Jordan West with the restaurant.
Individuals can still choose to wear masks and businesses still have the authority to require guests to wear one in their shop. Gov. Andy Beshear says everyone should have a mask with them even if they're fully vaccinated, just in case. Businesses can also require proof of vaccination to go maskless. It isn't a violation of the law to do so. But both the YMCA and Sam's Hot Dog Stand decided not to because of the challenges.
Gov. Beshear has also asked that Kentuckians respect the rules private businesses put in place.
