Kentucky COVID-19 cases top 3,000 and deaths reach 154. 102 new cases Monday.
Kentucky has 102 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to at least 3,050, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.
The number of new cases is likely “a little artificial,” Beshear said, as many labs that process test results were closed Sunday. As those leftover test results from the weekend are processed, it could mean higher numbers of new cases of the novel coronavirus in the days to come. The Democratic governor reported the highest single-day increase in cases on Sunday — 273 — but said there’s hope that the rate of infection is plateauing in the state.
In order to begin reopening segments of the economy, the state must see two weeks of declining rates of infection among those who are tested, Beshear said.
Six more people have died from COVID-19 complications, Beshear said: a 59-year-old woman from Crittenden County; a 92-year-old woman from Adair County; an 85-year-old woman from Hopkins County; and a 64-year-old man, a 62-year-old woman, and a 76-year-old woman, all from Jefferson County. The virus has played a part in the deaths of 154 Kentuckians, Beshear said.
In total, 32,830 people have been tested, 263 are currently hospitalized with the virus, 147 are currently in the intensive care unit, and 1,034 have recovered.
22 more nursing home residents test positive
Monday’s new case numbers include several people in congregate living facilities, including one new case at Western State Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Hopkinsville, where 13 patients and 28 staff have been infected.
There are seven new confirmed cases of the virus at the Green River Correctional Complex in Western Kentucky — five inmates and two staff. And at long-term care facilities, 22 new residents and 12 staff have tested positive, Beshear said. Nine more residents have died, though that figure includes some deaths from the weekend.
In all, Kentucky nursing homes have had 408 residents and 184 staff test positive for the coronavirus. Fifty-eight residents and one staffer have died.
Schools closed for the academic year
Earlier in the day, Beshear recommended all K-12 schools remain closed to in-person classes for the remainder of the academic school year, meaning many graduating seniors will not get a traditional graduation.
That decision, Beshear said, wasn’t just based on the status of the outbreak in Kentucky — “every health care professional advised us this was the correct course of action to take” — but one made “following the White House’s guidance.”
As an alternative to in-person graduation ceremonies, Beshear said he’s looking at opportunities to offer those events virtually, or as drive-thru ceremonies.
To students, he said, “this shouldn’t have to be asked of you, but it is.”
State getting 13,000 unemployment claims daily
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, who is secretary of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, said the state continues to refine its unemployment insurance enrollment system.
Since March 8, the state has processed more claims than it did in the whole of 2019, she said. Since mid March, the state has processed roughly 400,000 claims. Each day, the system is fielding on average another 13,000 new claims and answering about 25,000 calls, Coleman said.
Though the department has hired more than 1,000 new employees to staff a department that previously had 12 employees, people are still hitting snags with enrollment, she said. Kentucky’s COVID-19 unemployment insurance website says applicants should automatically receive payments about two weeks after filing their claims, but that still isn’t happening for everyone. So, the department recently designated staff to comb through open applications and duplicate applications and reach out to people whose two-week waiting period has lapsed.
For anyone who has applied and hasn’t yet heard back, “do not reapply and do not open another claim,” Coleman said. “When you do that, it causes your claim and others to slow down, and it cause payments to be delayed.”
The only people who need to reapply are those “whose original benefits have expired,” she said.
Visit Kentucky’s coronavirus website, kycovid19.ky.gov, for more guidance about the disease.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 5:57 PM.
