Kentucky prepares for ‘grim’ COVID-19 surge. 1,312 new cases and 16 deaths.
Community spread of COVID-19 is severe enough in Kentucky that state officials have again begun “surge preparations” in the event that hospital capacity is exhausted, Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday as he announced 1,312 new cases of the virus and 16 additional deaths.
“We are seeing virtually all our numbers escalating at the same time, which tells us it’s real, and it tells us that it could surge in the way that is requiring us to make preparations as a state, and should require all of us as citizens to double down on our efforts,” Beshear said from quarantine inside the governor’s mansion. He and his family again tested negative for the virus earlier Tuesday.
Kentucky’s positivity rate is up to 5.08 percent, the highest since Aug. 21. The state’s total number of cases is up to 89,544 and the death toll has reached 1,342.
There are 776 people hospitalized with the virus and 202 in intensive care — an increase of 12 people from Monday. Seven more people with the virus have been put on ventilators since yesterday, for a total of 96.
Beshear called Tuesday’s new report “grim,” noting that Monday brought the most cases reported on any Monday, and 1,312 set a single-day record for a Tuesday. According to the White House’s weekly coronavirus report, 70 percent of Kentucky counties are seeing “moderate or high levels of community transmission.”
“I’m asking you, I’m pleading with you, I’m begging you, follow the rules,” Beshear said. He asked businesses and faith leaders to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing in their buildings, adding that, across communities, there aren’t enough people to truly enforce these measures, which is why doing so hinges on “everybody’s buy in.”
The state’s surge preparations involve planning for expanded capacity at Kentucky’s hospitals, arranging options to use hotels and state parks to house people who need to quarantine or isolate, and “ensuring that we have the operational plans to stand up [a] field hospital, if necessary,” Beshear said.
In K-12 schools, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard, 97 additional students and 75 staff have contracted the virus. At least 1,109 students who have been exposed to the virus are in quarantine, as are 218 staff. In colleges and universities, 19 students and one additional staff member have tested positive. Two children and nine staff in child care centers have also tested positive across five more facilities.
In nursing homes, there are 44 new cases of the virus among residents and 29 among nursing home staff since Monday, bringing the total number of residents and staff with active infections to 1,543.
At the Thomson-Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore, the site of a coronavirus outbreak, 71 residents and 42 staff have so far tested positive, five people have died, and one veteran has recovered. Thirteen of the infected veteran residents are hospitalized, Beshear said. Fifteen nursing staff have been provided to the center after the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs asked for more assistance. Employees and all residents are being tested twice a week and screened for symptoms daily.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 4:39 PM.
