KY reports second-highest increase in COVID-19 cases. 1,487 new cases and 21 deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 1,487 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Wednesday and 21 additional deaths — the second-highest single-day increase for both metrics.
The ages of those who’ve died ranged from 40s to 90s, Beshear said, bringing the death toll to 1,363. Kentucky has now reported a total of 90,996 cases since the coronavirus pandemic began.
“This third escalation is very real and it’s very concerning. It’s already more concerning than the [escalation] we had in July,” he said. “There’s so much we don’t know about this virus, but we do know how to stop the spread.”
As new cases climb, so do hospitalizations. A record 794 people with the virus are patients in the state’s health care system — an increase of 18 from Tuesday, Beshear said. Of those, 203 are in intensive care. On Tuesday, Beshear said the state has restarted its emergency planning process to deal with any potential shortage of hospital beds.
Beshear, as he has said for weeks, again asked Kentuckians to take the virus seriously, because community spread across Kentucky is dire. Social gatherings of all sizes, particularly, are propelling aggressive spread of the virus, he said. Citing the White House’s weekly report, he asked Kentucky counties whose incidence rate is in the “red zone” or “orange zone” to consider urging those in their community to keep get-togethers “as small as possible and optimally not extend beyond immediate family.”
Beshear recommended earlier this summer that people not gather in groups bigger than 10. But still, “there is so much spread at family gatherings, at events at the house, weddings and funerals,” Beshear said. “The White House is saying, Kentucky, we know right now you have a limit on backyard barbecues, house parties. . . but they think if you’re in a red or an orange county, you shouldn’t have them at all.”
At the very least, Beshear said, “we need for people to be a lot more cognizant of the danger of these gatherings.”
In recent weeks, as new cases have surged, he has only hinted at new steps and restrictions he might take if Kentucky’s surge continues to worsen. He continued that on Wednesday, saying, if spread doesn’t let up, some sort of suspension on those small gatherings may be needed for “a week or a couple weeks.”
The statewide positivity rate is hovering at 4.99 percent, and there have been 1,837,416 tests administered statewide, 8,985 of which were announced Wednesday.
Seventy additional nursing home residents and 40 more nursing home staff have tested positive, which means there are 1,497 people in those facilities with active cases of the virus.
Beshear said the state is closing, perhaps temporarily, its Healthy at Home Eviction Relief Fund application process. The fund, powered by $15 million in federal CARES Act money, has been operational since late August, when he signed an executive order to provide financial assistance to renters and tenants during the pandemic.
That money will be used to assist the 3,709 completed applications the state has since accepted, Beshear said Wednesday, which means the application portal will be closed “for at least the foreseeable future.” But, he said, “if more funding becomes available, [if] we have another CARES Act, or we can get it through other sources, we may well be taking applications again.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 4:37 PM.
