185 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, total now 1,840. Four new deaths in state.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced 185 new cases of coronavirus in Kentucky on Saturday, bringing the statewide total to at least 1,840 cases.

Four more people have died from COVID-19 complications, the governor said. The state’s death toll is now 94.

Though Kentucky’s case volume is increasing more slowly than other states, the state is still in its surge, Beshear said, meaning the escalation of cases will continue.

“Even when you’re doing a good job, we are [still] facing a worldwide pandemic, and there is no vaccine,” he said.

As a way to limit the spread of the highly contagious viral respiratory illness, Beshear ordered communities last month to cancel all mass gatherings, including churches, who’ve been directed to offer virtual services in lieu of in-person services. But not all have heeded that directive. On at least two occasions, congregants of two different churches who defied the order and held normal services later tested positive for COVID-19. Dozens of coronavirus cases and six deaths are believed to be linked to a single Hopkins County religious revival.

Though “99.89 percent ... have chosen to do the right thing,” Beshear has said he anticipates seven churches to host in-person services for Easter Sunday. So, on Friday, he ordered law enforcement to record the license plate numbers of anyone who takes part in a mass gathering this weekend, at church or otherwise.

Those participants would then later be ordered by local health department officials to quarantine for 14 days to ensure they would not spread the coronavirus to others. The order doesn’t apply to drive-through services.

“If you’re going to expose yourself to this virus, it’s not fair to everybody else out there that you might spread it to,” Beshear said Friday. “Understand, this is the only way we can ensure your decision doesn’t kill somebody else.”

Some church leaders and Kentucky Republicans have since criticized the decision, arguing that it represents religious persecution.

“Taking license plates at church? Quarantining someone for being Christian on Easter Sunday? Someone needs to take a step back here,” U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, tweeted Friday night.

State GOP spokesman Mike Lonergan called Beshear’s order a “blatant overreach.”

But Beshear on Saturday adamantly defended his decision.

“I know that there are folks out there that might disagree with it, but they don’t have to read out the number of deaths every day,” he said. “All I’m trying to do is say, if you’re making the decision to go to a mass gathering, it shouldn’t impact other people.”

If those seven churches hold services, dozens more Kentuckians could contract the virus and die, Beshear said.

Though “this is a worldwide pandemic, I feel responsible for those deaths,” he said. “I’m just doing my best to save lives.”

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.

This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 5:52 PM.