159 new Kentucky coronavirus cases and 8 more deaths. Total is 5,934.
Gov. Andy Beshear Wednesday announced 159 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 5,934 and signaling that Tuesday’s high numbers were an outlier.
Beshear also announced eight deaths, bringing the death toll to 283. At least 351 people are currently hospitalized with the disease, 190 of which are in intensive care. At least 2,125 people have recovered from the virus.
The new cases also came with a marked increase in testing (17,590 new tests) as the state found an error in how the number of new tests were being reported. At least 78,603 Kentuckians have been tested for the virus, which is about 1.76 percent of the population as the state has pushed hard to increase testing.
“The White House says we have to be able to test 2 percent of our population every month and we’re ramping up to be able to hit almost three, but only if people sign up to get tested,” Beshear said.
The increase in testing has been a major key in allowing Beshear to determine whether its safe to reopen the economy. Beshear has said the state will be able to perform at least 30,000 tests a week through its partnership with Gravity Diagnostics.
Beshear announced that there will be drive through testing in Corbin, Lexington, Elizabethtown and Louisville next week through the state’s partnership with Kroger. He also noted that there are several sites conducting testing this week and next week in Bowling Green as the state’s third largest city has dealt with a surge of new cases.
Wednesday also marked the beginning of the next phase of reopening health care services. Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, said that means people will now be able to get surgeries that do not require them to stay in the hospital for more than 24 hours. Anyone who undergoes surgery will have to be screened for COVID-19 before their surgery.
Stack also stressed that people who are older than 60 are particularly vulnerable to the virus and will have to strictly follow the guidelines. As of May 5, around 28 percent of people older than 80 who have contracted the virus have died from it. For people in their 70s, that number is around 13 percent and for people in their 60s that number is around 7 percent.
“You have to take special safeguards to keep yourself safe, so please continue to follow the guidelines,” Stack said.
A federal court Tuesday ruled against Beshear’s ban on out-of-state travel and on Wednesday he said he rewrote the order so that it matched the travel ban issued by Ohio, which the courts said was legal.
“I’m okay with taking a little bit of guidance if it takes us where we need to go,” Beshear said.
The national guard has offered to help work the polls for the primary election being held on June 23rd, Beshear announced Wednesday. Beshear said the State Board of Elections is working on creating a portal where people will be able to request absentee ballots. Everyone will be able to vote by mail because of the coronavirus.
Beshear said he will announce the second phase of business reopening on Friday, which will likely happen in June.
Correction: This story originally contained an incorrect COVID-19 death total for Kentucky. The correct number is 283.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
