Kentucky coronavirus cases top 100,000. Positivity rate above 6%. 1,864 new cases.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 1,864 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Wednesday, continuing a statewide escalation of the virus and pushing the total number of confirmed cases above 100,000, to 101,494.
Beshear said more than half — 64 — of Kentucky’s counties have severe enough community spread of the virus to be labeled in the “red zone,” according to the state Department for Public Health’s color-coded incidence rate map. Forty-seven counties are orange and nine are yellow.
“That shows you that we have significant spread across Kentucky,” Beshear said. “And we need . . . everybody doing their part to bring those levels down.”
He also announced 14 additional virus-related deaths on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 1,442. The positivity rate is 6.07 percent, which is the first time it has risen above 6 percent since August 8.
Record numbers of people with the virus will only serve to increase the number of people hospitalized with the virus. On Wednesday, Beshear said 927 are in the hospital — 14 more than on Tuesday — 235 are in intensive care and 110 are on ventilators.
There are 105 new positive cases of the virus among nursing home residents and 60 additional cases among staff, bringing the total number of active cases to 1,439.
In K-12 schools, 105 more students and 50 additional teachers tested positive as of Wednesday, according to the school coronavirus dashboard. Just over 110 staff and 650 students are newly in quarantine because of virus exposure. So far this week, schools have reported that 2,379 of their students and 354 staff are quarantining.
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Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, said the restrictions Kentucky has already enacted are enough to successfully control spread of the virus. The problem is, not enough people are following them.
“There are plenty of guidance and mandates in place, the problem is people have to follow them,” he said. “When everybody tries to flaunt the rules, they don’t work, more disease spreads, and ultimately disease will drive behavior.”
Beshear clarified that Kentucky’s surge in cases is not simply the result of more testing, although Kentucky is testing more; a total of 1,976,218 tests have been administered, 11,755 of which were new Wednesday.
Starting Thursday, Kentucky will unroll a new “surge testing” program as a supplement to the more than 300 testing locations statewide. The first site, the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, will have 200 drive-up tests available Thursday, and 300 per day next Monday through Friday, Beshear said.
Lexington will get its share of tests starting Nov. 9, but the location hasn’t yet been finalized.
Thursday is also when local leaders in red counties learn whether they will need to apply new recommendations from Beshear during the following week to reduce virus transmission in their communities. Some of those include urging residents to avoid shopping in person; to only patronize businesses enforcing the mask mandate; placing an emphasis on telework; and canceling public and private group events until spread slows down.
“Come on, let’s work hard on this,” Beshear said to those communities. “This is a chance, community by community, to help your neighbor.”
Near the end of the governor’s daily update, Virginia Moore, Beshear’s American Sign Language interpreter, told Kentuckians in a video that she was cancer free. Moore announced earlier this month she’d been diagnosed with stage 1 uterine cancer and would need a hysterectomy.
That procedure was successful. “I am doing very well,” she said. “They were able to get all of the cancer out.” And soon, “I’m excited to be back with the governor again.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 4:44 PM.
