906 new Kentucky coronavirus cases puts the total above 50,000. Ten new deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 906 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Thursday, pushing the state’s case total above 50,000. He also announced the deaths of 10 more people with the coronavirus, bringing the overall death toll to 976.
Thursday’s new cases represents the third-largest daily increase since the outbreak began six months ago. “I think it shows we’re probably being a little more lax in our daily lives than we should be,” Beshear said. “Let’s make sure we do something about it.”
The deaths announced by the governor included people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Beshear said the state is on track to end the week with a record number of deaths. Since Monday, 55 people have died from COVID-19.
The rate of people testing positive, a seven-day rolling average, is at 4.53 percent. Since Wednesday, 7,683 tests were administered. Overall, the state has conducted 902,446 tests.
At K-12 schools, the state reported 67 new positives among students and 22 in faculty and staff, bringing the total number of active cases among students to 273. Forty-four additional schools have logged at least one positive case of the virus. At state colleges and universities, 69 students and two staff tested positive, pushing the number of active cases among students to 675.
Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, said many colleges and universities will publish their own coronavirus-tracking dashboards next week. The University of Kentucky’s dashboard went live on Wednesday.
In nursing homes, 28 residents and 26 staff are positive. There are 582 active cases among residents and 379 among staff. In all, 563 nursing home residents and staff have died.
Currently, the state says 10,547 people have recovered, which is a drastic undercount according to data collected by the Herald-Leader from local health departments. At least 38,000 Kentuckians have recovered, according to the newspaper.
Kentucky has had trouble throughout the outbreak accurately reporting the number of people who’ve recovered from the virus. Part of why, Beshear said, is because it’s hard to discern what “recovered” means, since the long-term effects of the virus, even after one stops being contagious, are unknown.
“What does it mean to be recovered? I don’t want to present a false sense of security saying people are just recovered when it appears you can have complications even when you are no longer infectious,” said Beshear, adding, “we are working on trying to address this issue.”
Quick vaccine hopes quashed
Stack and Beshear also quashed any lofty hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine would be widely available to the general public before the end of the year, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told states this week to be prepared to distribute a vaccine by Nov. 1.
“I know there’s a press to make these timelines, suggesting we’re going to have the vaccine going out the door to people in October and November,” Stack said. “I’ll say it again, there will not be a vaccine for virtually everybody this calendar year.”
When a vaccine is available, “we will do our very best to review the evidence available so that we can recommend affirmatively to the people in Kentucky when it’s safe to get a vaccine,” he said. “We’re not here to experiment on you. We’re here to make you safe.”
Kentucky universities can play football with 20% of fans
Since a vaccine is still a ways off, it’s unlikely Kentuckians will be able to fully resume normal activities before next year. Restaurants, for instance, will not seat at full capacity for the foreseeable future, Beshear said. But some new activities will resume at partial capacity, including fan attendance at university football games.
Beshear said the state has approved letting the University of Louisville play football with the stands at 20 percent capacity. Plans at other schools, including UK, will look similar, he said.
No widely available vaccine also means people who test positive and people who are directly exposed will need to continue isolating and quarantining.
Stack urged people to continue taking that responsibility seriously. “Quarantine is not punishment,” he said. “Quarantine is how we keep people safe, minimize the spread of infection and keep the economy open.”
He pleaded, “please don’t look for excuses to do the wrong thing. Look for ways to do the right thing.”
Spread of the virus continues to gain momentum in Lexington, where 120 new cases were reported by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department on Thursday. The return of students to University of Kentucky’s campus is a major driving factor to the city’s rapid growth rate. In the last 11 days, the state’s second-largest city has recorded 1,000 new cases — the fastest growth rate since the outbreak started in early March. Since Aug. 3, 803 UK students have tested positive.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
