Record set with 322 new Kentucky coronavirus cases. Total is 3,779. Nine new deaths.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced 322 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, marking the first time new cases have topped 300 in a single day as the state has rapidly increased its testing capacity. The official state total is 3,779 COVID-19 cases.
At least 200 people have died from the virus, with Beshear announcing nine more deaths Friday.
“Now we are testing more than ever before, but this is a big number,” Beshear said of the more than 300 new cases.
Beshear said the virus continues to spread rapidly in nursing homes and that the state has made a push to test more people in nursing homes.
There were 48 new positive cases among nursing home residents Friday, which means 578 nursing home residents have tested positive for coronavirus. Beshear announced 5 deaths among nursing home residents, bringing the death toll at nursing homes to 91. At least 61 facilities have reported a COVID-19 case in either a resident or staff member.
“We continue to see especially those in long-term care facilities being hit really hard,” Beshear said.
Beshear commutes 352 inmates, orders testing for all in one prison
The virus has also spread quickly through Green River Correctional Complex in Western Kentucky. Beshear said the state will test every person in the prison, where eight new inmates and two new staff members tested positive and a second inmate died Friday. There are now 60 total cases at the prison, including 40 inmates and 20 staff.
Mary Noble, the secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, said the facility is using bleach to clean the building multiple times a day and that everyone is required to wear masks. Officers shoes are wiped down when they come into the facility.
The inmates spend the majority of the day in their cells and only small group movement is allowed so that the inmates can practice proper social distancing, Noble said.
In an effort to decrease the amount of people in overcrowded jails, Beshear announced that he commuted the state felony sentences of 352 inmates who were in county jails for non-violent, non-sexual offenses. He said all the inmates had less than five years left on their sentences and that 339 had medical issues that puts them at risk for complications from COVID-19. Another 13 inmates were over the age of 65.
11 drive-thru testing sites open next week
Beshear has said there must be a decline in the number of people who are sick with COVID-19 in order for the state to start reopening in phases, but more widespread testing (especially testing people in long-term care facilities) has shown no clear decline in the number of cases.
Beshear has urged more testing, saying the additional data will help the state make more informed decisions about reopening. He said there will be 11 drive-thru testing sites in Kentucky next week.
Alongside two drive-thru testing sites in Lexington (one at Bluegrass Community and Technical College and one at the Walgreens on Executive Drive), Beshear announced a second site in Louisville in partnership with Walmart and sites in Bowling Green, Owensboro, Cadiz, Mt. Vernon, Hazard, Murray and Hopkinsville.
Secretary of State Michael Adams and Beshear came to an agreement Friday that will significantly change how the June 23rd primary is run, allowing everyone to vote by mail through an absentee ballot and attempting to decrease the amount of in-person voting by having people make appointments to vote.
Additional funding from the CARES Act, the federal relief package, was announced Friday, including 450,000 for arts programs in 32 counties.
Visit Kentucky’s coronavirus website, kycovid19.ky.gov, for more guidance about the disease and testing options.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 5:58 PM.
