387 new Kentucky coronavirus cases and 3 deaths over 3 days. Nursing home evacuated.
Gov. Andy Beshear Tuesday announced 387 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Kentucky to 8,951. Beshear announced only three new deaths, bringing the total to 394.
“We are on the decline, but that’s fragile and with a disease that’s so easily spread we have to want and put into action our desire to see that downward movement,” Beshear said.
There were 141 new coronavirus cases Sunday, 122 new cases Monday and 117 new cases on Tuesday. At least 193,576 tests have been conducted in Kentucky, the equivalent of 4.33 percent of the population. There are currently 489 people in the hospital and 78 people in the ICU. At least 3,115 people have recovered from the virus.
The three day average of new cases dropped to 127, the lowest its been since April 17. Only 4.62 percent of the people who have been tested were positive.
The state has tested at least 11,000 nursing home residents and staff, Beshear said. In all, 1,170 residents and 547 staff have tested positive, an increase of 54 residents and 27 staff. There have been at least 219 deaths associated with nursing homes, which makes up around 56 percent of the COVID-19 related deaths across the state.
Over Memorial Day weekend, the state evacuated 39 residents from the Nazareth Clifton nursing home in Louisville. The residents were moved over the course of four hours to six hospitals, the largest evacuation the state has had to perform over the course of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eric Friedlander, secretary of the Cabinet of Health and Family Services, said the residents were evacuated because 20 staff members at the facility tested positive for the virus.
“We are going to see this probably again in Kentucky,” Friedlander said. “And we will see it again.”
Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, warned that any large gathering can spread the virus. He showed a video of the Paddock Bar in Lexington crowded with people and warned that when people get together in that way, one person walking through and talking loudly could easily infect others.
Beshear took it a step further and said the bar was not being safe by not ensuring proper social distancing.
“I wouldn’t go there and I won’t go there,” Beshear said. “And you shouldn’t either.”
The proprietor of The Paddock told the Herald-Leader Tuesday that the video was misleading.
Even though the state has significantly increased its ability to test people, Beshear said that not enough people are signing up to be tested, which could prevent health officials from catching people who are experiencing mild symptoms or have no symptoms. He said there are several open appointments throughout the state, particularly in Warren County, where there has been a surge in cases.
He said there are more than 400 tests available in Lexington this week at the Kroger drive-thru location.
The shadow of a Second Amendment rally held Sunday loomed over much of the governor’s daily news conference. Some of the protesters, many of whom were armed with long guns, went onto the porch of the Governor’s Mansion and then hung an effigy of Beshear from a tree.
Beshear directly addressed the protest, denouncing several politicians who had spoken at an earlier “Freedom Rally” and — without naming them — saying those politicians cannot “fan the flames and then condemn the fire.”
He condemned the fact that he was hung in effigy — evoking imagery of a lynching — saying “I can never understand the depths of pain this causes to many Kentuckians. But I can condemn it outright.”
“I will not be afraid, I will not be bullied and I will not back down,” Beshear said.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
