Kentucky COVID-19 surge expands: 1,786 new cases and 18 deaths. Positivity nears 6%.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 1,786 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Tuesday, continuing a troubling surge of the coronavirus as the total number of cases climbed to 99,637.
Tuesday’s daily total is the second highest number of cases announced in a single day of the pandemic.
“We all have a lot of work to do,” Beshear said. “You’ve got a job to do, just like I do. And that job is to do what it takes to defeat COVID-19, to cut down on your contacts.”
Beshear also announced 18 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,428 and making October the deadliest month in the pandemic, with 254 deaths.
“They’re people,” Beshear said. “By now, you either know one of them or you know somebody who lost someone.”
More deaths are expected to come as the state has seen record numbers of people in the hospital with the virus. On Tuesday, Beshear announced 913 Kentuckians are in the hospital, 233 of whom are in intensive care. The positivity rate edged closer to 6%, at 5.97 percent.
On Monday, Beshear recommended that counties with an incidence rate in the “red zone,” which is more than 25 cases per 100,000 people over the previous 7 days, take new steps to contain the virus.
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If a county is in the red zone on Thursday evening, local leaders, schools and businesses should plan to implement restrictions for at least one week starting the following Monday, Beshear said. He 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. He has previously asked schools to move to virtual learning.
“Schools are going to do their part, government should be doing their part, our employers should be doing their part,” Beshear said. “It brings all of it together in a way where we can have the most effective response.”
Beshear has stopped short of tightening statewide restrictions amid a third surge of the virus. If people followed the restrictions already in place, the state wouldn’t be experiencing another surge, he said.
“We still have cases elevated and that’s because we’ve still got some folks that aren’t following” his mandate to wear masks and socially distance, Beshear said.
The highest incidence rate is in Elliott County, where there has been an outbreak at Little Sandy Correctional Complex. At least 239 inmates and nine staff at the prison have contracted COVID-19. Although the outbreak is focused at the prison, Beshear said the entire county should follow his recommendations because there are employees and vendors going in and out of the facility on a daily basis.
Currently, there are 263 active cases among inmates in Kentucky’s correctional facilities, most of whom are at Little Sandy. None of the inmates at Little Sandy have been hospitalized, according to J. Michael Brown, Beshear’s cabinet secretary.
There are 20 active cases among correctional facility staff and there have been 15 COVID-19 related deaths at correctional facilities.
In K-12 schools, there were 165 new cases among students and 93 new cases among staff reported Monday. Another 1,514 students and 210 staff are in quarantine.
In nursing homes, there are 906 active cases among residents and 500 cases among staff members. Ninety of those were newly reported Tuesday.
In an effort to highlight how the virus affects people of all ages, Kelly Alexander, the chief of staff at the Kentucky Department for Public Health, talked about her husband, Josh, an otherwise healthy 40-year-old firefighter in Louisiville who had to be hospitalized because he had pneumonia in both lungs and could barely breath after contracting the coronavirus.
He was released from the hospital this week. Alexander wasn’t exposed because she and her husband had different work schedules, but she hasn’t been able to return home since early October.
“I do not want to see one more positive case of COVID-19 in Kentucky,” Alexander said. “I do not want to see any more Kentuckians hospitalized with COVID-19 or in the ICU. We must come together and act with compassion for our family, friends and community.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 4:40 PM.
