230 new Kentucky COVID-19 cases and 12 new deaths. Totals: 4,375 cases and 224 deaths
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 230 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 4,375 as Beshear looks to begin slowly reopening businesses in two weeks.
Beshear said he still thinks the number of new cases in Kentucky has plateaued, but “we are not in any way out of the woods. We’re still in dangerous times.”
Beshear also announced 12 new deaths, bringing the state’s death toll to 224. At least 45 percent of Kentucky’s coronavirus-related deaths have been associated with nursing homes.
“That’s a lot of Kentuckians to lose in a day, even to something this deadly,” Beshear said. He asked everyone to light up their homes green, because “they need us.”
There were 65 new confirmed cases in nursing home residents Tuesday and 10 new cases among staffers, Beshear said. That means 903 residents and staff have tested positive. There were three new deaths, bringing that total to 101 nursing home residents and one staffer.
The number of tests conducted in Kentucky jumped by nearly 4,000, raising the total to 52,411, or 1.17 percent of the state’s population. At least 320 people were in the hospital with the disease Tuesday, 170 of which were in intensive care. At least 1,617 people have recovered from the coronavirus.
Beshear shed tears as he memorialized Lillian Press, who provided a lifetime of public service to Kentucky, including starting the state’s Governor’s Scholars program, of which Beshear attended. Press died from complications of the coronavirus on Sunday night at an assisted living facility in Washington.
“Every person we lose is just as important, but this is a friend of mine,” Beshear said.
More than 20 of the new cases Tuesday were in Bowling Green, which has emerged as a hot spot in recent days. Warren County has had 250 confirmed COVID-19 cases according to the Barren River Health Department and only five of them were in long-term care facilities.
Beshear also outlined guidelines that all businesses will have to follow when they are allowed to reopen, some beginning on May 11. Those requirements include closing breakrooms and other common areas, doing temperature checks on employees, universal wearing of masks, limiting face-to-face meetings, providing hand sanitizer, enforcing social distancing and having a plan to get sick employees tested. Beshear said businesses should make special accommodations for workers in high-risk demographics (those older than 60 or people with heart, kidney and lung problems).
Beshear also “very, very strongly” recommended that all Kentuckians wear a cloth mask while around other people in public settings.
Beshear said no one would be cited if they don’t wear a mask, but that it’s encouraged in order to slow the spread of the disease, particularly because scientists believe that people can spread the disease while still asymptomatic.
“If you can protect somebody else by doing this... wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you wear this?” Beshear asked. “I would and I hope you would too.”
With much of the economy shut down in order to stem the spread of the disease, Kentucky has seen record levels of unemployment. Beshear said the state is still processing 37,000 claims from March that haven’t been resolved. Beshear said there were around 68,000 issues with the claims (some claims had multiple issues), which the Cabinet for Education and Workforce Development is working to resolve.
One of those claims was from a Lexington man named Tupac Malik Shakur, who Beshear accused in Monday’s press conference of filing with a fake name.
Beshear personally apologized to Shakur and publicly apologized during his press conference Tuesday after a Herald-Leader article pointed out his mistake.
The state has attempted to rapidly increase testing capacity as it prepares to begin a phased reopening of the economy. On Tuesday Beshear announced three new drive-thru testing sites: one in LaGrange, one in Maysville and one in Morehead.
Visit Kentucky’s coronavirus website, kycovid19.ky.gov, for more guidance about the disease and how to sign up for testing.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
