‘A really hard August.’ 700 new Kentucky coronavirus cases and 7 deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 700 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 32,197 as the number of new cases appears to plateau. Beshear announced seven new deaths, bringing the total to 751.
Tuesday’s total was much higher than the 323 coronavirus cases announced Monday, but the two-day total is just below the total number of new cases announced last Monday and Tuesday.
“We believe that we are stabilizing where we are,” Beshear said. “We want to see a decrease, but that still doesn’t mean we aren’t going to go through the loss that’s caused by that previous escalation of cases.”
Beshear has been bracing people for an increase in deaths, which usually follow new cases by three to five weeks.
“We’ve had a lot of cases in July, it’s probably going to be a really hard August,” Beshear said.
The state’s official rate of positive tests, based on a seven-day rolling average, slightly increased Tuesday to 5.24 percent.
There are 638 Kentuckians in the hospital with the virus, 135 of whom are in intensive care. The virus has particularly affected people who are older than 80. At least 20 percent of the Kentuckians older than 80 who have tested positive for the virus have died, many of whom have been in long-term care facilities.
Beshear said 13 new nursing home residents and 25 new staff members have tested positive for the virus. There have been 2,635 cases among nursing home residents since the pandemic began, 444 of whom are still being actively monitored. In all, 478 residents and staff have died.
“What we are doing now with the regular testing of staff is now considered the way of keeping COVID-19 out of our facilities,” Beshear said.
The number of coronavirus cases in Kentucky childcare facilities also continues to gradually rise. Beshear reported two new staff members and four new children who tested positive Tuesday at six new facilities. That brings the totals to 110 facilities, 84 staff and 75 children.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,802 Kentuckians under the age of 19 have tested positive for the virus, which is 11.82 percent of the state’s COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, First Lady Britainy Beshear announced a program in coordination with Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman that will ask Kentuckians to donate masks to school districts for students, teachers and staff. Details are at https://governor.ky.gov/coveringsforkids.
“There are circumstances where obtaining a mask may not be attainable for everyone,” Britainy Beshear said.
New testing sites
Now that the state’s partnership with Kroger to offer free drive-thru testing has ended, Beshear announced new testing opportunities in Louisville and Northern Kentucky. He said the state will likely partner with the University of Kentucky in Lexington, but UK is currently focused on testing 30,000 students who will return for the fall semester.
Susan Straub, the communications director for Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, said Lexington will soon have four free public testing sites: Southland Christian Church, 2349 Richmond Road; Consolidated Baptist Church, 1625 Russell Cave Road; Walgreen’s testing location at 2296 Executive Drive; and the City’s Mobile Neighborhood Testing program.
The Southland, Consolidated Baptist and Walgreen’s testing centers are currently open. The mobile testing location will be announced soon. Southland, Consolidated Baptist and the mobile testing site do not require appointments. The Walgreen’s testing center does at walgreens.com/coronavirus.
Fans at the Kentucky Derby?
Beshear also was asked about safety plans for two major events coming up in Kentucky: The Kentucky Derby and the Nov. 3 General Election
He said the state is working with Churchill Downs to determine how many, if any, fans can attend the Kentucky Derby. He said there have been some examples of successful sporting events, but that staff have to be vigilant about enforcing social distancing requirements.
Beshear and Secretary of State Michael Adams are expected to come to an agreement within the next week on what precautions the state will take for the 2020 elections. Beshear has made it clear that he supports no-excuse absentee voting, while Adams has questioned whether county clerks and the post office can handle the increased volume of mail that would come with no-excuse absentee voting in a general election.
Adams is expected to issue a recommendation to Beshear later this week.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 4:29 PM.
