Kentucky governor: Sending unmasked, unvaccinated kids into class like holding ‘chicken pox party’

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) on Thursday defended his statewide school mask mandate amid surges of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly contagious delta variant, saying that sending unmasked children too young to be vaccinated into a classroom is like “holding the world’s largest chickenpox party.” 

Beshear, who has previously made the chickenpox comparison in advocating for mask requirements, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan that he believes he did the “right” thing by signing the executive order last week. 

“Sending unmasked, unvaccinated kids into a poorly ventilated classroom is like holding the world’s largest chickenpox party, except instead of chickenpox it is the third-leading cause of death last year,” he said. 

A federal judge in Kentucky on Thursday moved to temporarily block Beshear’s school mask mandate, arguing it seemed to lack authority after the state legislature previously voted to override the governor’s veto of a measure limiting his public health authority during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The governor has continued to stand by his executive order, citing the massive strain being placed on Kentucky’s hospitals and health care systems amid a surge in cases. 

Beshear said Thursday that state hospitals were nearing a “critical point” in their ability to treat COVID-19 patients, with several reporting staffing shortages and reaching capacity. 

“I hope that seeing that hospitals are to a point where they might not be able to help you if you are in a car wreck, or otherwise harmed, will somehow get through and lead to more people getting that vaccine that helps protect us all,” he said. 

Last week, the Democratic governor wished officials who were looking to defy his mask mandate “good luck” and said they would face consequences for violations.

Beshear specifically said that if Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), who opposes mask mandates, waged a successful challenge against the governor’s order, then Kentucky would turn into “a statewide chickenpox party.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that research indicates that the delta variant is just as contagious as chickenpox and is more transmissible the viruses that cause the common cold, the seasonal flu, smallpox and other illnesses. 

As of Thursday, just 55 percent of Kentucky’s total population had received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with 47 percent fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.