Kentucky coronavirus death toll tops 800. 679 new cases and 8 more deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 679 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Friday — including 77 kids and teenagers under age 18 — pushing the state’s total number of cases to 38,298.
“It does show that, at best, we are at a plateau, thanks to people’s wearing of facial coverings, and we still need more time to reach a decline,” the governor said, noting that this week’s number of new cases is expected to surpass last week’s tally of new infections.
The rate of people testing positive, a seven-day rolling average, is 5.68 percent. “I’m glad that is below 6 percent, but we have got to get that lower,” Beshear said.
Eight more people with the virus have died. The death toll is now 804.
The governor called the number of new infections in school-age kids “pretty significant.” Those positives include three school-age children in Barren County and three in Hardin County, two counties where schools plan to move ahead with in-person instruction this month, despite Beshear’s request they wait until late September.
In nursing and assisted living homes, 28 residents and 25 staff have newly tested positive. Overall, 428 residents and 300 staff currently have the virus.
There are 656 people hospitalized with the virus, 147 of whom are in intensive care and 97 are on ventilators. At least 743,500 tests have been administered.
Beshear on Friday signed an executive order to expand voting options in the upcoming November election to preemptively limit the spread of COVID-19. Starting next week, any Kentuckian can request an absentee ballot that must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and arrive by Nov. 6 to be counted. Residents will also have the option to vote early in person starting in mid October. For those who still do wish to vote in person on Election Day, each county will have at least one “voting super center,” Beshear said.
Together, Beshear said these options create “the most options to vote that we have seen in an election,” adding that it will be an election “that stresses health and enfranchisement.”
The governor said it will be an election that “stresses health and enfranchisement.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 4:40 PM.
