Kentucky coronavirus cases top 9,000 and deaths hit 400, but COVID-19 on the decline
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 127 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 9,077, as the total number of people who died from coronavirus-related causes reached 400.
“Let’s all acknowledge that losing 400 people at anytime, to anything, for any reason is not okay,” Beshear said. “Let’s just remember that we’ve lost 400 Kentuckians and this thing isn’t over yet.”
At least 512 people are currently in the hospital with the virus, the highest number since Beshear has released hospitalization statistics. Of those in the hospital, 82 are in intensive care. At least 3,124 people have recovered from the virus.
Despite those increases, the number of new cases announced by Beshear has continued to decline in recent days.
More than half of the people who have died have been residents of nursing homes, where 1,185 residents have come down with the virus, as well as 563 staff members. A total of 224 people associated with nursing homes have died from the virus.
“Remember, it gets into these facilities somehow,” Beshear said. “It’s not just starting there. It’s passed between people outside of these facilities and brought in there.”
Beshear again urged people to wear a mask, lamenting the fact that the very act of wearing a mask has become political.
“Masks have somehow become this division among people,” Beshear said. “Yes, they’re uncomfortable... yes, they prevent people from seeing your beautiful face. But they protect people.”
Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, said a simple cloth mask is all it takes to “keep your secretions” away from other people.
“We didn’t see the horrors at the scale that they’ve seen in other places and I think that’s made this seem too distant,” Stack said.
He urged people who choose not to wear a mask to be respectful of people who do wear one. He also asked people who wear a mask not to pick a fight with people who don’t wear one.
“I want you to be patient and kind and tolerant with each other so we don’t have something like this... turn into strife and conflict,” Stack said.
The state has been handing out masks at Kroger testing sites. At least 200,762 tests have been conducted in Kentucky, the equivalent of 4.49 percent of the population. The percentage of people who have tested positive is 4.52 percent.
Beshear has pushed everyone to get tested, saying there are still openings at Kroger testing sites, where people without symptoms can be tested for free. He said only 49 of 400 testing slots were taken in Henderson County Tuesday.
He advised that anyone who is going to an active worksite should get tested about once a month if they’re not showing symptoms. Anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 should be tested immediately.
More businesses will be allowed to reopen Monday — auctions, auto/dirt racing, aquatic centers, bowling alleys, fishing tournaments, fitness centers, Kentucky state park lodges, movie theaters and Salato Wildlife Education Center.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman urged people in rural Eastern Kentucky to apply for support from the Team Kentucky Fund, which is providing vouchers for people to pay for things like rent and utilities if they were laid off or lost money because of COVID-19. Coleman said the state has received 1,900 applications, but they haven’t received many from Breathitt, Fleming, Harlan, Knott, Knox, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Mason and Wolfe counties.
Ethics commission reconfigured
Beshear also announced that he signed an executive order to reconfigure the five-member Executive Branch Ethics Commission. The appointees of former Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, will be replaced with three new members appointed by Beshear, a Democrat. They are former auditor Crit Luallen, former lawmaker David Karem and former judge Roger Crittenden.
Beshear also will allow the attorney general and auditor, both of whom are Republicans, to each nominate three people for the final two positions on the board. Beshear will select from those nominees.
A similar system had been instituted by former Gov. Steve Beshear, but Bevin had eliminated input from the attorney general and auditor.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 5:43 PM.
