‘A leveling off?’ 659 new Kentucky coronavirus cases and 7 more deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 659 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Thursday, edging the state’s total up to 29,387.
Between Sunday and Thursday last week, the state reported 2,963 coronavirus cases. This week, there have been 2,622 cases so far. Beshear said he thinks this signals a “leveling off.”
“It’s hard to think that we can have hope in numbers as large as 659,” but Beshear does, because he said it could portend a “significant decrease in overall escalation of the virus.”
The rate of people testing positive is down slightly, to 5.66 percent.
The governor said he thinks the slowed rate of new cases is “because of facial coverings.” His executive order requiring that Kentuckians wear masks in public went into effect on July 10.
Seven more people with the virus have died, their ages ranging from 63 to 92. Ninety-seven percent of the people who are dying from the virus in Kentucky are over age 50, Department for Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack said Thursday.
But that’s not an excuse for younger people to take the virus less seriously, he said, since its long-term effects on even people who recover are not fully known. “Yes, it is true the mortality [rate] is heavily weighted toward people who are in the second half of their lives, [but] there’s some folks who get really cavalier about this, which is striking.”
“For them, it does matter,” Stack said. “We are all dying, some just more quickly than others. I am not here to separate you from your death. I would just like to delay it as long as I reasonably can.”
The more people who are diagnosed with the virus, the greater the need for contact tracers to retroactively trace and limit further spread from those positive cases. Mark Carter, hired by Beshear earlier this summer to oversee the hiring of hundreds of new tracers, said the state has added 455 new contact tracers since May 1, for a total of nearly 900. He expects to add another 290 tracers by mid September.
Thursday’s new cases included 39 new cases in Lexington, where cases total 3,075, and five more residents with the virus have been hospitalized. Statewide, 22 children under age five were also diagnosed with the virus. Two new child care centers have diagnosed at least one case of the virus, and three more staff and four kids have contracted it, bringing those totals to 40 children and 44 staff.
In nursing homes, a dozen new residents and 18 staff have tested positive.
There are 587 people hospitalized with the virus, 110 of whom are in intensive care.
Eviction dispute
In the spring, Beshear signed an executive order placing a moratorium on evictions statewide in an effort to help avoid unnecessary spread of the virus and ensure people could remain healthy at home. Though that moratorium remains in effect, its legality is currently being challenged in court by a group of Northern Kentucky landlords, who say they face bankruptcy because some tenants otherwise able to pay rent are taking advantage of the order.
Beshear on Thursday said his legal team had been in mediation all day, and “it did not appear there is a resolution.” If that’s the case, the lawsuit will move forward and the state will defend the governor’s moratorium in front of a judge, he said.
Housing advocates estimate that 220,000 households and at least 1,500 renters in Lexington are at risk of being evicted if the order is lifted.
“Are there people out there gaming the system? Sure,” Beshear said. “But are there people out there suffering because of this virus, or because of its economic impact that we can’t allow to be kicked out on the street? Yes.”
His goal with the moratorium, he said, was to “try to find the right balance to protect those that needed protections.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 4:29 PM.
