244 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, Beshear announces Saturday. 2 new deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear Saturday announced 244 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, citing recent outbreaks in Louisville as the cause for the relatively high number, and bringing the total number of cases in the state to 7,688.
“So today, cases up, and we’ll watch that even though there’s more testing,” Beshear said in a YouTube video. “The importance here is that if we want to reopen this economy, we want to do it safely. We’ve got to remember that there’s still a virus out there. It spreads aggressively. To certain populations it can be deadly.”
Beshear said there were outbreaks at Maryhurst — a Louisville facility for abused and neglected girls — and at a JBS meatpacking plant in Louisville. He did not say how many cases were at those two locations, but announced 94 new cases in Louisville. As of Friday, Louisville had 1,864 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 126 coronavirus-related deaths.
There have been 541 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lexington, a number that has increased significantly because of a recent outbreak at the Federal Medical Center. At least 198 inmates and six staff members of the Federal Medical Center have tested positive for the virus, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
There are currently 438 Kentuckians hospitalized with the disease, an increase of 57 people since Friday, and 270 of the people who are hospitalized are in intensive care. At least 2,768 people have recovered from the virus, according to Beshear.
Beshear announced two new coronavirus-related deaths Saturday, bringing the state’s death toll to 334. Around 58 percent of the deaths in Kentucky have been residents of long-term care facilities.
There have been at least 129,405 tests conducted in the state, which is the equivalent of about 2.9 percent of the population. Of the people who have been tested, 5.94 percent have been positive, a slight increase from Friday. Over the past week, Beshear announced 42,505 tests, the highest number of people that have been tested in a single week so far.
There were a total of 1,359 new cases between May 10 and May 16, which is a decrease of about 200 cases from the week before. Beshear announced 30 deaths between May 10 and May 16, the lowest number in a week since April 5.
