113 new Kentucky coronavirus cases and 9 deaths. Swimming pools can reopen June 29.
Noting that Kentucky has now had more than two weeks of declining COVID-19 cases, Gov. Andy Beshear announced 113 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the statewide total to at least 9,184 cases. He reported nine new deaths, increasing that total to 409.
Using graphs charting Kentucky’s infection rate since the first case was diagnosed in early March, the governor explained how significantly residents blunted the transmission rate. Without the Healthy At Home measures taken by the state, by May 4, “we would’ve been having more than 16,000 new cases in a single week,” Beshear said.
But, “we took significant steps. It worked,” he said. “That’s where we’ve come, and that’s what you did.”
“Our goal now is to keep this decreasing,” Beshear said.
Though the new case rate is now steadily declining, people will continue to die from the virus, he said. The ages of the deceased announced Thursday ranged from 66 to 85.
At least 494 people are currently hospitalized with the virus, 88 of whom are in intensive care units, and 3,181 have recovered. At least 221,118 COVID-19 tests have been administered across the state.
The number of residents in long-term care facilities with the virus is now at 1,208, an increase of 23 from Wednesday. Ten new staff tested positive, totaling 573.
Six more inmates at the Green River Correctional Complex in Western Kentucky tested positive for the virus, for a total of at least 362 cases. Fifty-one staff, total, have tested positive for the virus.
Beshear said his moratorium on evictions will not expire on June 1, contrary to some circulating rumors. He did not offer an expiration date.
More reopenings announced
Now that Kentucky is in its decline, Beshear said all state parks can reopen starting June 1, including four that had previously been reserved for people quarantining after being exposed to the virus.
The governor’s office continues to release guidelines on how businesses and public places need to safely reopen. Though he previously said no public pools would open this summer in Kentucky, on Thursday he said some public pools will, in fact, open later next month. By the week of June 29, he said, “we’ll be able to have the type of protocols together to provide guidance for a limited opening of pools,” though “it will not be easy to meet that guidance.”
That doesn’t mean all towns and cities will open their public pools, Beshear warned, but it does give municipalities, many of which are reeling from millions of dollars in lost revenue from the pandemic, the option for another source of revenue. Beshear asked Kentuckians to have “trust in your local leaders in how they choose to do that.”
The Kentucky Kingdom amusement park in Louisville will also be able to open the week of June 29, though “it will look very different,” Beshear said, adding that operators of the amusement park have submitted an extensive reopening proposal.
Unemployment claim data breach
On April 23, the department that manages unemployment insurance claims was notified that some people who filed unemployment claims were able to see confidential information of other applicants, Education and Workforce Development Deputy Secretary Josh Benton said Thursday.
Though there’s “nothing to indicate there was an external infiltration of the system,” Benton said, efforts are underway to directly notify the claimants whose personal information was viewed.
“We’ll be sending information to them direction with instructions on checking their credit report and on reporting potential identity theft,” he said.
A software patch was installed later that evening in late April, and there have been no new reports of data breaches since then, Benton said.
The governor said it’s not yet known “whether anybody’s data has been used to harm them.”
Benton said, “it’s nothing we take lightly, and we continue to monitor the security of that system at a high priority on a daily basis.”
But Beshear said, “it took way too long” to notify the public of the breach, adding that he’s reorganizing the cabinet as a result. The department handling unemployment claims will be moved to the Labor Cabinet, where it used to be.
“It’s important that people out there know we are taking action, that we don’t take anybody’s delay lightly,” Beshear said.
More than 844,000 claims for initial unemployment payments have been filed in Kentucky since mid March. So far this week, Benton said another 15,000 delayed claims from March and April have been processed.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 5:59 PM.
