offices, cabinet one-stop shop and cabinet district highway, administrative, maintenance and equipment offices." as of march 22, there were 103 confirmed cases. kentucky senator rand paul announced he had tested positive for the virus. mayor greg fischer of louisville ordered the closure of playgrounds, basketball courts and soccer fields in the city's parks on march 24. due to a surge of cases in alabama the kentucky state government advised all travelers from the state to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. healthcare on march 17 an executive order was announced allowing pharmacists to issue prescriptions for 30 days if they cannot contact a patient's doctor. it also allowed pharmacists to set up and conduct business in areas not covered by the normal permitting process, to increase the ease and availability of mobile operations. blood donations were substantially impacted as scheduled blood drives were cancelled and the public took measures to avoid public spaces. adult daycare centers were ordered closed as of march 17. religion main article: impact of the covid-19 pandemic on religion initially, religious leaders were upset when governor beshear called for all religious services to be halted on march 11, 2020. however, many followed the guideline on sunday the 14th with even more following by the following sunday. the roman catholic diocese of covington suspended public masses from march 20 until further notice. by april 4, two churches in hopkins county had been linked to an outbreak with over 50 cases and 4 deaths. on easter 2020, beshear had the kentucky state police show up to churches who defied his order banning mass gatherings, including religious services. this ban on religious services was eventually struck down by the courts. sports main article: impact of the covid-19 pandemic on sports the running of the kentucky derby, normally scheduled for the first saturday in may, was postponed until september. this was the first time in 75 years that the race was rescheduled. nascar held their races at kentucky speedway in sparta as planned on july 9–12 the xfinity series gained an additional race there for the first since 2017 that there would a second race at the track for the xfinity series, all events were closed behind doors. arts due to the negative economic impact the pandemic had on artists of all disciplines, kentucky governor's school for the arts increased the amount of funding alumni were eligible to apply for through its toyota alumni fund granting program in 2021. in december 2022, literary press whiskey tit published tell me what you see, a short fiction collection by christian county native terena elizabeth bell, which compared kentucky's shutdown to new york city's and included multiple photographs of governor andy beshear. governor's daily address governor beshear has a daily public address at 5:00 pm edt on the covid-19 pandemic. the governor is joined regularly by an asl interpreter, kentucky commission on the deaf and the hard of hearing executive director virginia moore, and dr. steven stack, commissioner of the kentucky department of public health. the governor has come up with several hashtags he wants kentuckians to use: #teamkentucky, #togetherky, #healthyathome, and #patriot. some of the common phrases that the governor uses during these addresses can be purchased on various items to help raise money for team kentucky fund started by the governor to help those who have been hurt financially by the pandemic. the governor also asks people to light up their house green whenever there are coronavirus deaths in the state that day to honor those that are lost. as part of this, beshear has ordered the governor's mansion and the state capitol dome illuminated in green on those nights. public response compliance with the governor's order to wear masks was reported as a "mixed bag" in louisville. one store in kentucky denied entry to customers wearing masks. protests against the governor's restrictions began in march 2020 with opposition hanging an effigy of andy beshear on march 24. lifting of restrictions on june 11, 2021, governor beshear issued an executive order lifting most coronavirus restrictions throughout kentucky. this included all capacity restrictions, healthy at work requirements as well as the statewide mask mandate in most cases. masks will still be required on public transportation as well as in healthcare and long-term care facilities. in addition, masks wearing remains recommended in correctional facilities and homeless shelters as well as by anyone who has a compromised immune system, is experiencing covid-19 symptoms or has tested positive for covid-19 in the previous ten days. private businesses will also retain the right to require mask wearing in their facilities or on their property. classes began as expected on august 11 but several school districts closed due to infections.