Beshear makes new recommendations for ‘red zones’ as COVID-19 surge continues
As he announced 953 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths in Kentucky on Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear recommended counties with the highest incidence rates take a series of steps to slow rapid spread of the virus.
For counties in the “red zone,” with incidence rates of at least 25 cases per 100,000 people, Beshear asked local leaders and business owners to postpone or reschedule public or private events; he asked businesses to allow any employee who can to work from home; he said all non-critical government offices should move temporarily to telework; and he asked community members to reduce in-person shopping and avoid gathering in groups of any size.
Beshear also asked residents in these counties to patronize restaurants and stores that enforce mask-wearing and social distancing to create a “positive incentive for organizations to do the right thing,” he said. “If you’re going to shop in person, if you’re going to dine out, prioritize those businesses that are doing it right.”
The recommendations come at a time when nearly half of Kentucky’s counties are in the red, according to the state Department for Public Health’s color-coded incidence rate map.
“Fatigue and somehow a culture war . . . have led to less compliance as the summer ended and as we moved into fall,” Beshear said, noting that general compliance with his mask mandate has also waned.
“To those who have refused [to wear a mask], talk to your minister. Read your Bible. Wearing a mask isn’t a statement about your own personal freedom. It’s about how much you care about somebody else.”
The goal of these recommendations, which Beshear said a community should heed for at least a week, is to lessen general population density in the hopes of moving a community back out of the red, he said.
The governor opted for issuing guidance rather than mandates because he said it’s more effective. “We know encouragement will do more than enforcement to get people on board. It puts ownership in each community,” he said.
Monday’s additional 953 cases brings Kentucky’s total to 97,866. The state has reported a total of 1,410 COVID-19-related deaths.
“Today only adds to the concerns that we have what is undoubtedly a significant and severe escalation,” Beshear said from the Capitol Rotunda after quarantining for two weeks.
The positivity rate, a seven-day average, is up to 5.84 percent — the highest it’s been since Aug. 11. There are 858 people hospitalized with the virus across the state — 17 more than on Sunday — 253 of whom are in intensive care and 112 are on a ventilator.
In nursing homes, 26 residents and 23 nursing home staff have tested positive since late last week, increasing the active case total at these facilities to 1,519. At the Thomson-Hood Veterans Home in Wilmore, which has been battling an outbreak all month, another veteran died since Sunday. Seventy-three veterans and 49 staff have so far tested positive. Ten veterans remain hospitalized and eight have died.
As new cases rise, Kentucky is slated to receive roughly 1.3 million Abbott BinaxNOW coronavirus point-of-care antigen tests, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Monday. This rapid test issues results in about 15 minutes and will be prioritized for at-risk populations and professions, including frontline health care workers, teachers, and those in congregate living settings, including nursing homes, jails and prisons. Distribution of the tests will fall to Beshear.
The margin of error is greater with these tests compared to the molecular PCR test, which detects the live virus. An antigen test detects certain proteins on the surface of the virus.
Knowing this, Beshear said, “it can only be a tool [and] we have to understand its limitations.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 5:16 PM.
