9 new Kentucky coronavirus deaths. ‘Modified’ nursing home visitation coming July 15.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 69 new cases of the novel coronavirus in Kentucky on Thursday, bringing the state’s total number of cases to at least 11,945, but he said the new case volume is artificially low, as the state is awaiting a backlog of cases to be processed that will come Friday.
“Our number today is really low, [and] you shouldn’t read anything into that,” the governor said at his regular news conference, blaming a federal processing backlog for the delay. A “significant” number of new cases that otherwise would’ve been confirmed today “are going to come tomorrow,” he said. The state is due between 5,000 and 8,000 results — a mix of positive and negative cases.
Nine more Kentuckians with the virus have died, including three people in a nursing home in Boone County. The ages of those who died ranged from 63 to 93, bringing the death toll to at least 493.
“I know their families are going to need us during this time,” Beshear said. “I know we’ve been dealing with [COVID-19] for awhile, and I know we’re going to have to deal with it until that vaccine comes,” but until then, he said, “let’s not let fatigue get in the way of our compassion.”
Currently, 514 people are hospitalized with the virus, and 81 are in intensive care. At least 3,379 have recovered and at least 308,786 tests have been administered across the state.
Since Wednesday, 19 new nursing home residents and 11 staff were diagnosed with the virus. The state is making its way through testing every nursing home resident and staff member. Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander said he expects to have completed testing in half of those facilities by the end of the week.
Once testing at these facilities is complete, residents will be able to gather together again for meals and some group activities starting June 29, Beshear said, and modified visitation can start again on July 15. Adult day care programs are slated to reopen June 29. State guidance on how to do so will be available soon.
The Kentucky Horse Park and state park campgrounds were allowed to reopen at reduced capacity on Thursday. Also, car and boat dealerships were allowed to increase their maximum showroom capacity to 50 percent. Digital and online sales should still be prioritized above in-person sales.
Public-facing businesses and churches that have already been operating at 33 percent capacity can expand to 50 percent one month after they were first allowed to reopen.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 4:36 PM.
