177 new Kentucky coronavirus cases and 11 new deaths. Total cases at 2,210.
Kentucky has 177 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus, for a total of 2,210, Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday. Another 11 Kentuckians have died from COVID-19 complications, the governor said, bringing the death toll to 115.
Tuesday’s deaths included 50-year-old Pamela L. Hughes, who had worked at Signature HealthCare of Summit Manor nursing home in Adair County since 1988. She is the first nursing home staff member to die of the coronavirus in Kentucky.
“This person gave their life to protect others,” Beshear said.
Thirty-five of Tuesday’s new cases are residents at long-term care facilities, bringing that total to 217. Ten more staff have tested positive, raising the total to 127. Another three nursing home residents died, increasing that total to 33.
Roughly 27,697 people have been tested for the virus in the state. Of those who’ve contracted the virus, more than 653 have recovered, Beshear said.
In Lexington, public health officials announced just four new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday — the eighth day of no reported deaths in the state’s second-largest city, where more people have recovered than are currently infected with the virus. Fayette County has a total of 209 confirmed cases, and 132 have recovered. Jefferson County had 14 new cases on Tuesday.
Republicans criticize coronavirus response
Republican members of Kentucky’s House of Representatives on Tuesday said they were working on a coronavirus relief bill to help reopen some of the “non-essential” businesses the governor has closed to help slow the inevitable spread of the virus.
Though the language of the bill hasn’t been released, it’s a proposition currently at odds with the otherwise sweeping efforts made by Beshear, including his shuttering of all non-life sustaining businesses less than a month ago, on March 26. Kentucky, more than its surrounding states, has seen a slower progression of the virus, which Beshear attributes to Kentuckians’ adherence to aggressive social distancing mandates. Those restrictions will extend at least through the end of April.
State Republicans took more direct aim at Beshear in a statement later Tuesday afternoon, in which GOP spokesman Mike Lonergan said the governor “is leaving Kentucky behind the curve on a coronavirus recovery plan.”
“While neighboring states like Ohio, Tennessee and others around the country, including some of those hardest hit by the pandemic, work to plan for recovery from the devastating effects of the coronavirus, Beshear has been dismissive of such efforts,” Lonergan said.
“Kentuckians are sacrificing so much to help fight the virus,” Lonergan said. “They deserve not to be left behind by Andy Beshear’s refusal to act.”
Beshear, at his daily Capitol news conference, sharply rebuked that critique and the House Republican’s bill.
“Do you trust the government, led by the Department of Public health and all of our medical officials, or do you trust the Legislature and lobbyists that are talking to them each day based on monetary interests that are out there?” Beshear asked flatly. “I don’t think that’s a hard decision.”
“Public health officials are going to provide the guidance of [when] we open up,” he said. “I get that they’re back in town having a mass gathering right now, which is not a very good example if we’re talking about making decisions and leading.”
Kentucky has not hit its peak caseload yet, Beshear said, and might not for at least another month, which means aggressive social distancing mandates will continue to be necessary.
“We are on the slope up,” he said, in terms of case volume. “Remember, it’s a public health decision on when and how we can open up. It’s the difference between life and death on how we do that. Let’s make sure we are more committed to the fight right now than anything else.”
Beshear has repeatedly called for political divisions to dissolve during this time — “not Republicans or Democrats, not liberals or conservatives or moderates, just Americans vs. the coronavirus” — and he did so, again, on Tuesday.
“Any noise that’s out there, when people try to create divisions, just push it out. Just push it out. People’s lives are on the line. We’re not playing around,” he said. “This isn’t a chance or a place in time for people to make political statements. None of that.”
521,592 Kentucky unemployment claims
More than half a million Kentuckians have so far filed for unemployment insurance through the state, Josh Benton, deputy secretary of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, said on Tuesday.
Of the 521,592 total claims filed, almost $150 million has been paid out to more than 450,000 people, Benton said.
He and Beshear asked for continued patience from Kentuckians as the state works out the snags in the system. The delays people are experiencing could be related to a number of factors, including that their application is still in the 13-15 day window it typically takes to process those claims; that a claim could be under routine investigation; that applicants haven’t sufficiently verified their identity; and that they’ve filed multiple claims because the system was functioning slowly.
“To everyone out there who’s anxious and worried that they’re payment won’t come, it’s on me,” Beshear said. “We will work to make sure you get what you need to get through this crisis.”
Second Kroger testing site opens Wednesday
The governor announced over the weekend that Kroger would be launching temporary testing sites across the state, with assistance from Gravity Diagnostics in Northern Kentucky. The goal is to administer 20,000 tests through various Kroger sites, or up to 250 tests each day.
Beshear said the Franklin County Kroger location offering COVID-19 testing completed 178 tests on Tuesday, its second day of operation. The pop-up location will be open through Thursday.
The second Kroger location, in Kenton County, will come online Wednesday and be open for four days, Beshear said, with a goal of conducting a total of 1,000 tests.
Anyone with coronavirus symptoms living in a contiguous county can visit https://www.thelittleclinic.com/drivethru-testing or call 1-888-852-2567 to see if they qualify for a test at a Kroger site.
Visit Kentucky’s coronavirus website, kycovid19.ky.gov, for more guidance about the disease.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 5:59 PM.
