50 new Kentucky coronavirus cases found Thursday. Total is 248.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 50 new cases of novel coronavirus in Kentucky on Thursday, bringing Kentucky’s total number of COVID-19 cases to at least 248.
It was the “single largest increase in a day, though it is not escalating as quickly as in other states,” the Democratic governor said in a Thursday Capitol news conference.
Beshear initially said a 90-year-old man in a Perry County nursing home had tested positive for the virus, but later tweeted that he had, in fact, tested negative. Kentucky has so far had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities.
The new cases are spread across the state, in Boone, Clark, Christian, Daviess, Jefferson, Jessamine, Union, Mercer, Madison, Pulaski, Calloway, Hopkins, Fayette and Harrison counties. Beshear said more than 11,000 people have been tested for the respiratory disease in Kentucky.
Five of the new cases, which include a 3-year-old boy, are in Lexington, bringing the city’s total up to 42. More than 11,000 people have so far been tested across the state.
In McCreary County, health officials obtained a quarantine order in court Thursday for a McCreary County woman who had not stayed home after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
Officials had received information indicating the woman, whose name was not released, had not obeyed an order from the Lake Cumberland District Health Department to self-isolate, said Shawn Crabtree, director of the 10-county agency. She was the third COVID-19 patient Kentucky officials have had to force into isolation.
The state so far has spent upwards of $8 million to combat spread of the disease, the governor said, “and we’re going to spend a lot more than that.”
He reiterated that the next few weeks are going to be “absolutely critical in this battle against the coronavirus.”
“This is the time where we do everything we can, through social distancing and health at home, to make sure we flatten this curve and do not see what we see going on ... in so many other places,” he said.
Beshear asked Kentuckians to “recommit” to rigorous social distancing: “I’ve been so proud to be your governor these last several weeks, seeing so many people sacrifice so much,” he said. But “knowing what’s on the line in the next two-to-three weeks, we need even more.”
That includes not congregating in parks and playgrounds. “If you are going to the park and playing a game of basketball, you are spreading the coronavirus right now,” Beshear said.
Since there are still Kentuckians not heeding his directive to avoid congregating in groups, even outside, he on Thursday asked county judge-executives and mayors to “very closely monitor the park areas and public congregation areas, and if people aren’t observing social distancing, to shut them down.”
Beshear also said he will give the same authority to the leaders of state parks, where there have been reports of people congregating at campgrounds.
Of the trips to “life-essential” businesses such as grocery stores, he urged people not to dawdle. “When you go get supplies at the grocery, if that is treated as a social hour ... you will undermine all the sacrifices you have made all throughout the day.”
Beshear said again he hopes to set up more drive-thru testing across the state, but it’ll be reserved for the most serious cases, at least in the beginning. Earlier on Thursday, UK HealthCare deployed its first drive-thru testing site for its “frontline” health care staff, but only those showing symptoms of COVID-19. The new site, at UK HealthCare Turfland, is capable of testing about 100 people a day and will require an appointment.
UK began processing its COVID-19 tests on site less than a week ago. Though Kentucky now has about a dozen labs online, testing widely across the state has been hampered in part due to a severe shortage of medical supplies and personal protective equipment, Beshear said. Processing time for COVID-19 tests at labs right now in Kentucky varies from 12 hours to seven days.
Beshear reiterated that there is a critical shortage of personal protective equipment, which is crucial for keeping healthcare workers safe for the virus. He said he has been working hard to bring more to the state, but that he’s having to compete for the resources.
“We still don’t have what we need for a sustained surge,” Beshear said.
Kentuckians can call 1-833-KYSAFER to report people and businesses not following social distancing guidelines issued by federal and state officials. Wait times could be long, Beshear warned, saying the phone line got more than 2,000 calls in its first day.
Visit Kentucky’s coronavirus website, kycovid19.ky.gov, for more guidance about the disease.
Donations to help people who have been economically affected by the virus can be made to the Team Kentucky fund. Tax-free donations can be made at https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/PPC/KYCOVID-19Donate.
Herald-Leader reporter Daniel Desrochers contributed reporting from Frankfort.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 5:31 PM.
