KY up to 64 cases of coronavirus. Gov. Beshear asks schools to close until April 20.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 16 new cases of novel coronavirus in Kentucky on Friday, bringing the statewide total up to at least 64.
Eight of the new positive cases, including a 17-year-old female, are Jefferson County, bringing that area’s total to 25. The others are in Oldham, Anderson, Calloway, Hardin, Henderson, Fayette, Warren counties. More than 1,000 tests had been conducted to detect the virus in Kentucky, though those numbers are getting harder to track as more testing sites come online. As of Thursday, the state had eight labs.
Beshear in his Friday afternoon Capitol news conference said people shouldn’t be surprised at the rising number of cases. “We ought to expect to have more each and every day,” he said.
In addition to delaying the tax filing deadline to July 15, the governor also said K-12 students wouldn’t be able to return to in-person classes until April 20, extending his mandate late last week that all public and private schools close for at least two weeks.
All Fayette County Public Schools will remain closed to students until April 20, Superintendent Manny Caulk confirmed in a message to parents Friday.
“While we are disappointed that it will be longer before we see our students again, we absolutely support the Governor’s efforts to blunt the spread of COVID-19 and we will do everything we can to support our students, staff and families,” Caulk said. “As I shared previously, our schools have worked diligently to prepare for such a possibility, and our teachers have developed plans to provide high quality, engaging instruction for students.”
Beshear also touched on how churchgoers in Calloway and Pulaski counties are in quarantine after potential exposure at their respective services. In Pulaski County, 40 congregants are in self-quarantine after being exposed to a 59-year-old female congregant at church who this week tested positive for coronavirus. Her positive test was announced on Thursday, when the governor also signed an executive order banning all social gatherings, including church services. That order followed a request the governor made earlier this month, before the 59-year-old woman potentially transmitted the virus to other church attendees.
“Understand, when I make these recommendations, it is about the health and safety of all our people,” Beshear said. “Whether you hold church services isn’t a test of your faith.”
The governor reiterated the state’s “shortage” of personal protective equipment for health care providers, such as masks, gowns and gloves.
“Anybody out there who has this equipment, we will absolutely take it,” Beshear said.
Kentucky Department for Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack told the American Medical Association in an interview published on Thursday that demands on the health care system caused by the COVID-19 outbreak “greatly outstrip the resources.”
“This is really the calm before the storm,” Stack said. “Think about it this way: it’s like there’s a Category 5 hurricane out to sea, about 7 to 10 days away, and we know it’s going to come, and we know it’s going to hit, but if we take action now, we can take steps to ... ensure people have what they need to survive the onslaught of the hurricane,” he said. “That’s what we’re facing.”
In order to lessen community spread and the impact on health care systems, Beshear has in the last two weeks mandated Kentuckians practice serious social distancing, asking employers to let employees work from home, closing gyms, movie theaters, community recreation centers, closing schools, canceling church services, closing bars and restaurants to in-person dining and drinking, closing child care centers and barring visitors from long-term care facilities.
Kentucky residents can call the state coronavirus hotline — 1-800-722-5725 — for advice about when to seek medical treatment. Those with symptoms of coronavirus — cough, fever and difficulty breathing — are strongly urged to call the hotline or their physician before visiting a doctor.
Visit Kentucky’s coronavirus website, kycovid19.ky.gov, for more guidance about the disease.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 5:20 PM.
