FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Andy Beshear recommended Monday that Kentucky schools delay the resumption of in-person classes until late September to provide more time to get the coronvirus under control.

The Democratic governor said his recommendation that schools wait until Sept. 28 to reopen schools was a tough but necessary step as the state comes off an escalation of virus cases in July.

“But we do not have control over this virus,” the governor said. “And to send tens of thousands of our kids back into in-person classes when we don’t have control on this virus isn’t the right thing to do for our kids. It’s not the right thing to do for their faculty.”

In late July, Beshear recommended that public and private schools wait until at least the third week of August to resume in-person classes to help curb the spread of the virus.

The governor pointed to rising virus infection rates among children in defending his decision.

Beshear has aggressively combated the virus with a series of executive actions, including a requirement that most people wear masks in public.