Simpson County social distancing rules get stricter

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Governor Andy Beshear has recommended over and over that all people throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky practice social distancing, so Simpson County is taking yet another step toward limiting physical interactions in the county.

All retail businesses that are not life-sustaining were closed by the governor nearly two weeks ago, but that doesn’t stop people flocking to superstores in large masses.

In order to keep the public safe, Judge-Executive Mason Barnes signed an executive order Thursday requiring essential retail businesses remaining open in Simpson County to comply with the CDC and Kentucky Department of Public health social distancing guidelines and provide sanitizing stations for their employees and customers.

Also, all life-sustaining retail businesses that remain open are now required to control overcrowding issues by only allowing an occupancy of 10% of their maximum occupancy number according to the order.

This comes after out of state grocery shoppers flooded stores in the county, according to Barnes.

Barnes says this is a situation that he is monitoring hourly and decisions will be made to reflect the quickly changing circumstances surrounding COVID-19.