13 new KY coronavirus deaths and 745 more cases. K-12 schools report 225 new cases.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 745 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Thursday and 13 additional deaths, bringing the state’s case total to 64,158 and edging the death toll up to 1,137.
“Thankfully our mortality rate continues to creep down,” Beshear said, but “every day that we have a lot of cases, we know they’re going to result in a lot of deaths.”
The rate of positive coronavirus tests statewide, a seven-day rolling average, remains below 5 percent, at 4.57 percent. Kentucky’s current mortality rate is 1.77 percent, having steadily declined since April when it was close to 5 percent.
In nursing and assisted living homes, 40 additional residents and 47 staff have tested positive. Overall, 573 residents and 421 staff in these facilities across the state currently have the virus.
Since early March, at least 1,301,407 tests have been administered.
There are 543 people in Kentucky hospitalized with the virus, 122 of whom are in intensive care and 71 are on ventilators.
In K-12 schools, where staff must log new coronavirus case information daily in a state dashboard starting Monday, the governor announced 166 new students have tested positive, as have 59 staff. There are 577 active cases among school-age students and 288 actives cases among faculty and staff.
In Kentucky colleges and universities, Beshear reported 33 additional cases among students. In all, 1,395 students and 45 faculty and staff are actively infected. Eight new colleges, he said, have reported at least one case of the virus.
Fayette County remains in the ‘red’
The official state report shows there are 665 active cases among students at the University of Kentucky — far more than any other higher education institution in the state.
Lexington is seeing “critical” spread of the virus, and UK students are largely to blame. On Thursday, the state reported 26.3 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in Fayette County. This puts Lexington in the “red,” which is 25 or more cases per 100,000 residents.
Beshear said this rate “poses a problem” for K-12 schools in the county, who have been asked to adhere to certain coronavirus metrics set by the state before they can resume in-person instruction. Fayette County Public Schools previously said in-person classes won’t start before Oct. 5, but football and other sports have already begun.
If a district is in the red, the state advises schools to remain virtual and to cancel all athletic events. A special meeting of the Fayette County Board of Education to discuss a return to in-person learning is scheduled for Friday morning.
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 4:21 PM.
