Kentucky coronavirus cases increase by 93 Wednesday to 687. Three new deaths announced.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reported 93 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, ratcheting Kentucky’s total up to at least 687.
The governor also announced at least two new deaths: a 60-year-old man in Daviess County, and a 76-year-old woman in Hopkins County. A third death, which the governor did not officially confirm, was announced in Louisville earlier Wednesday, bringing the death toll related to the novel coronavirus to 20.
“While 93 is a a lot of cases, this is less than yesterday’s [increase],” Beshear said in his daily Capitol news conference. “Our rate of increase is lower at the moment than anticipated, and that’s a good thing, overall, for our health care capacity.”
The state, though, remains “in the surge,” he said. “We know we’re in the increasing escalation of our curve,” and efforts to minimize transmission will be “absolutely critical” over the next month.
Twenty-two of the new cases on Wednesday came from Louisville, according to Mayor Greg Fischer, for a total of 228 cases in the state’s largest city. The Lexington-Fayette County Public Health Department confirmed six new cases on Wednesday, for a total of 116.
Beshear said he and other state public health officials think projections of the number of deaths released by the White House are “too optimistic.”
Federal projections show up to 240,000 deaths if aggressive social distancing measures are taken collectively across the country, and between 1.5 and 2.2 million deaths without those measures.
In Kentucky, Beshear said, that translates to 21,000 to 29,000 lives lost had Kentucky not taken all of the steps the state had mandated, including the closure of all non-essential businesses, schools, and cancellations of virtually all events, community gatherings and church services. With these measures, according to the White House’s figures, 1,300 to 3,200 deaths will occur across the commonwealth.
“I’m committed that we can do better on our social distancing,” he said, adding that people need to refrain from gathering in any kind of group, small or large.
Church revival spreads COVID-19
He singled out a church revival in Hopkins County that defied his order to suspend in-person services, and, as a result, contributed to widespread transmission of the virus, including to a nursing home resident. He said 24 confirmed COVID-19 cases and two coronavirus-related deaths can be traced back to the revival.
Those who went to the revival “hurt people that didn’t make that choice ... and they potentially cut down on the resources to protect other people,” Beshear said.
Lessening the burden on the health care system as Kentucky responds to the surge of cases is in part up to individual Kentuckians, who can do their part with rigorous social distancing, the governor said.
And the state is doing its part, Beshear said, to increase overall health care capacity. Right now in Kentucky, there are 18,500 hospital beds, 1,300 intensive care unit beds, and 1,352 ventilators.
Efforts are underway to add another 8,000 hospital beds, in part by transforming hotel rooms into hospital rooms. Already the state has acquired another 70 ventilators, but the goal is to double the total number. Still, “they won’t be hospital grade,” he warned.
40,000 more unemployment applications accepted
After lengthy delays, Beshear said more than 40,000 unemployment benefits acceptance letters were sent out to Kentuckians since Tuesday night, many of whom “the website originally told them, [they] did not qualify.”
Kentucky’s unemployment benefit enrollment system has been clogged in recent weeks with record numbers of applicants, and Beshear has asked Kentuckians applying to be patient as the state contends with crashed phone lines and websites used for enrollment. Nearly 50,000 people across the state applied for unemployment benefits during the week of March 20, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The department has so far processed about 70,000 claims, and approximately $18.5 million in claims has already been distributed to 3,200 Kentuckians, said Josh Benton, deputy secretary for the Cabinet of Education and Workforce Development.
He said his office is in the process of revamping the enrollment website so it’s easier to navigate. In order to unclog the phone lines, which have received between 80,000 and 200,000 calls in the last three business days, he asked that only those who need to reset their pin numbers to call, or anyone who is having trouble with the online application.
“Be patient with us,” Beshear asked in his news conference. “We have a volume right now, first that we want ... but a volume we’ve never dealt with.”Coronavirus testing increases.
U of L expands coronavirus testing
Beshear also said that his office is currently auditing all COVID-19 testing labs and their capacity across the state, including private labs. Though his office is still awaiting more labs to report their numbers, more than 10,000 tests have been conducted in Kentucky, he said.
“We are working on everything we can to increase [overall testing] capacity,” he said. For “every two steps forward, we do have a step back, and often times that’s because the testing kits and the personal protective equipment we expect to come to us is diverted and routed somewhere else.”
The University of Louisville has expanded its processing capacity for COVID-19 testing to about 1,000 tests a day, said Kevin Gardner, executive vice president for research and innovation.
In addition to processing its own tests since March 13, the university lab processes tests from a dozen other area hospitals and a handful of outpatient clinics. As of Wednesday, it had processed nearly 1,800 tests, of which 204 have been positive. Turnaround time is about 24 hours.
UK HealthCare began in-house testing a little more than a week ago, and each test takes roughly a day to process. As of late Tuesday, university administrators said UK had processed close to 1,700 tests.
Beshear also announced Wednesday that he is deploying members of the Kentucky National Guard to assist several food banks around the state.
Kentucky residents can call the state coronavirus hotline — 1-800-722-5725 — for advice about when to seek medical treatment. People with symptoms of coronavirus — cough, fever and difficulty breathing — should call their health care provider directly.
To report large gatherings or establishments not complying with the state’s orders, visit govstatus.egov.com/kysafer or call 1-833-KYSAFER.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 5:47 PM.
