92 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky; total cases at 917. Three more deaths in state.

Gov. Andy Beshear on Saturday announced 92 new novel coronavirus cases in Kentucky, bringing the statewide total to 917.

Three more Kentuckians have also died from the viral respiratory disease, the governor said during his daily Capitol news conference.

Those who died were a 56-year-old woman from Fayette County, a 52-year-old woman from Bullitt County, and an 81-year-old man from Boone County. At least 40 Kentuckians have now died from COVID-19-related causes.

Forty-five of the new cases were in Jefferson County, Beshear said, and the others were spread across the state, including in Hopkins, Simpson, Christian, Henderson, Fayette, Shelby, Lyon, Boone, Warren, Woodford, Hardin and Daviess counties.

More than 16,663 people have been tested across the state, he said. Of the total number of people who have been infected, a little more than 130 people have been hospitalized, and 76 are currently hospitalized.

He also told people on Saturday to heed the new voluntary CDC guidelines that recommended people who are not showing symptoms to wear cloth masks or homemade masks when in public, which could help slow or prevent the spread of the disease. But, Beshear said, everyone should reserve the high-grade masks, such as N95s, for healthcare workers.

“No one should be wearing an N95 mask” except health care workers, he said. “If you are doing that, it means that someone who desperately needs it doesn’t have it.”

The new guidance from the CDC should be applied to “essential activities” in public, such as shopping at the grocery, where it is harder to maintain six feet of social distancing.

The new voluntary mask directive “does not replace the social distancing requirements,” he said, and “just because you wear a mask doesn’t mean you can get within six feet of somebody and have a conversation.”

Beshear again asked Kentuckians to not use this weekend’s nice weather as an excuse to disregard crucial social distancing mandates.

“It’s a beautiful weekend, but you absolutely cannot, cannot violate these rules simply because it’s nice,” he said. “What that happens, coronavirus spreads and people are more likely to die.”

He on Saturday again shared statewide projections that show, if there is “poor compliance” with the social distancing measures already in place, it could lead to 13,000 deaths in Kentucky, whereas with “strict compliance,” based on that projection, the number of deaths could be as low as 2,000.

That difference “is an extreme number of people,” he said, a number that could be offset with individual decisions, such as “whether we do everything we can, even when it’s a beautiful day, or whether we invite folks over to our house, just because we miss them.”

Beshear shared for the first time the identity of a Kentuckian who died in late March from COVID-19: ARon Jordan, who was 49.

He was a union bricklayer from Boyd County with seven kids and seven grandkids, the governor said and the Courier Journal reported on Saturday. He had traveled to Detroit for work, where he was later hospitalized and died.

“When we’re talking about doing our duty, as a Kentuckian, as a patriotic American, as we’re talking about reducing our contacts, as we’re talking about the difference in the loss that we’re going to have if we strictly comply versus if we poorly comply” with the stay-at-home measures, Beshear said, “he’s one of the folks we’ve lost.”

“He was an amazing person, loved by his family and his community, so, everyone, one of these losses is very, very real,” he said. “We are better people than to allow the limited action or the poor compliance to be our reality.”

Social distancing mandates were already expected to last through April, but Beshear has alluded to those measures extending well into May, particularly if Kentucky is slower to hit its peak number of cases: that means the social distancing and the flattening of the curve is working, he said.

“I need your best in April, [and] I may need your best in May,” he said Friday.

On Saturday, he tried to ease people’s anxiety: “We know we’re not looking at years. We’re looking at months,” he said. “That ought to mean we can be strong, knowing it is [for a] limited duration, even though we don’t know the exact duration.”

Beshear again pleaded with Kentuckians to donate personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns, gloves, goggles and face shields saying be believes there are “millions” of pieces of this equipment across the state. Anyone with items to donate should call (833)-GIVE-PPE, or visit giveppe.ky.gov, or items can be taken to any state police post.

He also asked any Kentucky company with capabilities of making any PPE to contact the state: “If you are a Kentucky company and you think you can do any of this, give us a call.”

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.

This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 5:46 PM.