184 new Kentucky COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths. Business reopening schedule revealed.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 184 new cases of the novel coronavirus in Kentucky on Wednesday, adding that the state’s rate of infection remains plateaued, which means plans will move ahead with reopening non-essential parts of the economy beginning in May.
Kentucky’s case rate is “right around where we believe the plateau is,” the governor said. “We are not seeing an escalation day over day.”
The state’s total number of cases is now at least 4,539. Wednesday’s new numbers included 60 cases in Jefferson County, 50 in Warren County, 16 in Daviess County, six in Kenton County and four in Fayette County.
Congregate care settings continue to be hardest hit by the virus, especially nursing homes. Twenty-nine more senior living residents tested positive, as did eight staff, increasing those totals to 703 residents and 302 staff.
Beshear said another 10 people have also died from the virus, including a 101-year-old woman from Grayson County, putting the total number of virus-related deaths at 235. More than half of the people who died in Kentucky — 120 — have been long-term care facility residents.
There are currently 325 Kentuckians hospitalized with the virus, 176 in intensive care units, and 1,668 have recovered. Overall, 54,101 people have been tested.
Reopening schedule provided
Starting May 11, some non-essential businesses will be allowed to reopen, including manufacturing, construction, professional services at 50 percent capacity; car and boat dealerships; pet grooming and boarding, and horse racing without fans.
On May 20, “provided the virus is where we think it’s going to be at that stage,” in-person worship services may be able to start again at reduced capacity, Beshear said, as will non-essential retail businesses.
If there’s no evidence of a spike of cases, on May 25, people will be able to gather in groups of 10 or fewer, he said. Barber shops, salons, and cosmetology businesses would also be given the go ahead to reopen.
Each of these reopenings is contingent on a number of strict measures, including that each business have enough personal protective equipment, drafted plans for how to implement social distancing measures, the capacity to keep work spaces clean, and the ability to screen employees for symptoms.
Beshear said, “I would not be suggesting these if I did not think we could be doing them safely,” but, if case numbers begin to climb again, “it’s always subject to pause ... everything up here is fluid, depending on the coronavirus,” he said. “We cannot allow ourselves to have that second spike.”
Beshear and Department for Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack regularly praise Kentuckians for their work in radically flattening the infection curve. Stack said during the news conference, “we substantially, we profoundly blunted what should’ve been a Mount Everest” spike in cases.
But the potential for a spike in coronavirus cases will be around for awhile, “That’s why we have to be very careful about how we do this [because] we don’t want that second bump,” he said.
This is in part why more social businesses and activities will have to wait until at least June to resume, including in-person dining at restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, campgrounds, youth sports, public pools, daycares and summer camps.
The state is still trying to sift through historic numbers of unemployment insurance claims, and Beshear said another 8,000 claims leftover from March were processed yesterday. That leaves roughly 29,000 claims from March yet to be processed. Beshear said his goal is to finish processing last month’s claims by the end of the week.
More than 950 Kentuckians were tested on Wednesday at drive-thru sites operated by Kroger, currently in Lexington, Louisville, Owensboro and Bowling Green. Those sites will run through the end of next week in Lexington, Louisville and Bowling Green, and a new temporary site will open at Ashland Community College.
Like other Kroger testing sites, “it is open to the entire public,” not just people with symptoms, Beshear said.
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 29, 2020 at 5:58 PM.
