Beshear announces 319 new cases of COVID-19, Kentucky cases top 11,000. Four new deaths
Gov. Andy Beshear Saturday announced 319 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday, the highest number of new cases announced in a single day since May 5, bringing the total number of cases in Kentucky to 11,287.
“The virus is still out there. I know we’re tired. I know we all just want to have a normal summer,” Beshear said in a press release. “But we’ve already saved so many lives as Team Kentucky and we can’t let up now.”
As the state has slowly begun the process of reopening the economy and as Lexington and Louisville have experienced a week of nightly protests — the state announced more new cases this week than last week, 1,583 new cases between May 31 and June 6 compared with 1,133 new cases between May 24 and May 30.
Beshear has pointed to an increase in testing — particularly the targeted testing of nursing homes — as part of the reason for the increase in cases, saying Thursday that it’s too soon to draw any conclusions about the week’s higher numbers. However, the state announced fewer tests this week (47,417 new tests) compared to last week (64,406 new tests).
Still, the percentage of people who have tested positive for the virus is around 4.01 percent and has been hovering around the 4 percent mark for the past five days. There have been 281,559 tests conducted in Kentucky, the equivalent of 6.3 percent of the population.
Beshear also announced four new deaths Saturday, bringing the total to 470. There are at least 495 Kentuckians currently in the hospital with COVID-19, 75 of whom are in intensive care. At least 3,344 people have recovered from the virus. The state announced 39 new deaths this week compared to 40 new deaths last week.
More is slated to reopen starting Monday, including libraries, distilleries and in-home childcare services. Kentucky State Park campgrounds and the Kentucky Horse Park will be allowed to open Thursday.
This story was originally published June 6, 2020 at 5:15 PM.
