Positive COVID-19 test rate jumps above 4% in Kentucky. 824 new cases and 7 deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 824 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Tuesday and seven more deaths, bringing the state coronavirus case total to 62,731 and the death toll to 1,119.
“This is a major challenge of our lifetimes,” Beshear said, and “we’re going to be judged in part by how many Kentuckians and how many Americans we let die.”
The death toll from the virus in the United States surpassed 200,000 Tuesday, a milestone Beshear mentioned at the top of his update, adding that at least 1,119 of those deaths were Kentuckians.
He said Kentuckians can still “save a lot of people,” and the way to do it is “wear a mask, social distance, follow the rules that are out there. Don’t try and find a way around them.”
After hovering below 4 percent for a week, Kentucky’s official rate of positive tests over the last seven days jumped Tuesday to 4.52 percent. At least 1,142,031 tests have been administered. Beshear has said further restrictions might be necessary if that rate surpasses 6 percent — a real threat as many schools reopen to in-person classes next week and high school sports resume. To ward off another spike, he said, “we’ve got to redouble our efforts” to take precautions against the virus.
Though he hasn’t yet provided guidance on how Halloween can be celebrated this year, trick-or-treating on the spooky holiday, like most activities, will need to be altered, he said. “I believe our guidance is going to try to provide a way for kids to have that experience but in the safest way possible,” Beshear said.
And “the idea of big parties for young adults or older adults? No, we cannot do that during Halloween this year,” he said.
Beshear also said the state’s application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an additional $400 a week for people who collected unemployment insurance during the weeks of August 22, August 29 and September 5 was approved on Tuesday. The state’s application for the three-week period prior to August 22 had already been approved. A timetable on when those additional payments will be processed is forthcoming, Beshear said.
In K-12 schools on Tuesday, the state Department of Public Health reported four new student and eight staff positives. Across these districts, 359 students and 175 staff actively have the virus.
At state colleges and universities, the state reported four students and one additional staff member have contracted the virus. There are at least 1,105 positive cases among college students and 45 positives among staff.
In nursing and assisted living homes, 31 more residents and 50 more staff have contracted the virus. In those facilities, 588 residents and 393 staff are actively positive.
The deaths announced Tuesday included a 56-year-old woman in Marion County, a 69-year-old woman in McCracken County and a 92-year-old man in Taylor County.
There are 511 people hospitalized with the virus in Kentucky, 133 of whom are in intensive care and 73 are on ventilators.
Breonna Taylor update
Beshear said he had no new information as to when Attorney General Daniel Cameron would release the results of his investigation into the killing of Breonna Taylor by the Louisville Metro Police Department. The governor said he requested 48-hours notice from Cameron’s office before a decision is handed down but declined to say whether that notice had been given.
“I cannot comment on when a decision related to the Breonna Taylor investigation is going to be released,” he said.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 4:42 PM.
