Kentucky nears daily record with 18 new coronavirus deaths. 816 new cases Wednesday.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 816 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Wednesday, bringing the case total to 49,991. He also said 18 more people with the virus have died, putting the death toll at 966.
“Sadly, I think we’re going to have a lot more days like today,” Beshear said, attributing the daily death count — the second-highest daily increase — to the case surge about a month ago. “When we have this number of cases, we lose people.”
The rate of people testing positive is up slightly, to 4.71 percent. At least 894,808 tests have been administered overall, more than 7,200 of which were reported in the last day.
Despite back-to-back days of more than 800 new cases, Beshear said he believes the state is still in a high plateau, though “it does appear to be creeping up some.” And as much of the state is poised to return to some form of in-person classes later this month, “we are in danger of another spike,” he said.
With Labor Day and the Kentucky Derby approaching, though there will be no fans, Beshear pleaded with Kentuckians, “this weekend, I need you to keep your gatherings small — 10 or less.”
“This is the only year we’re asking you to do that, and it’s in the middle of pandemic,” he said.
As a way to further reduce the spread of the virus nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will put a moratorium on many residential evictions through the end of the year. A group of northern Kentucky landlords sued Beshear in July, challenging his May executive order halting evictions statewide. On Wednesday, the governor said he expects the CDC’s order to be an “answer” to that lawsuit.
Evictions in Kentucky resumed last week. In place of Beshear’s executive order barring evictions, the state set up a $15 million fund to help renters avoid a loss of housing for nonpayment and financially aid landlords for lost rent payments.
On Wednesday in nursing homes, 64 residents and 42 staff tested positive. In total, 606 residents and 364 staff have the virus.
In K-12 schools, Beshear said 33 additional students and 12 faculty and staff members have the virus. Overall, 207 students and 80 staff are actively positive.
State data also shows 137 additional college and university students have the virus, as well as two staff, though Beshear said those numbers are incomplete. Overall, 782 students and 21 staff are actively positive.
The University of Kentucky on Wednesday published its own coronavirus dashboard, which it plans to update daily, though it hasn’t been updated since Aug. 30.
UK is currently tracking 435 active cases, and close to 80 students are in isolation on campus. Those remaining students with COVID-19 are isolating off campus, according to the dashboard. Just over 30 percent of UK’s isolation capacity is occupied.
The majority of Lexington’s new infections lately have been in college students, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, which reported 122 new cases on Wednesday. Of those, 89 are students.
Statewide, there are 589 people hospitalized with the virus and 138 in intensive care.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 4:32 PM.
