‘Truly frightening.’ 2,302 new Kentucky coronavirus cases and 10 deaths.
Calling the latest case increase “truly frightening,” Gov. Andy Beshear announced 2,302 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Friday — the second highest single-day increase of new cases — lifting the statewide infection total to 117,505.
Thursday’s increase set a record for most new cases reported in a single day.
“I know we’ve been in this fight for so long that it’s easy to get numb to the scary headlines and high case numbers,” the governor said in a written statement. “That’s normal. It’s human nature. But you have to understand this is the most dangerous COVID-19 has ever been in the commonwealth.”
Hospitalizations continue to rapidly climb. Since Thursday, 51 more people have been hospitalized with the coronavirus, for a record total of 1,153. Eight more people were moved to intensive care, a population that now amounts to 299, and 29 more people were put on a ventilator, meaning 158 Kentuckians with the virus are sick enough to need help breathing.
Beshear on Friday also announced 10 additional deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,544.
The rate of positive tests continues to inch closer to 7 percent, settling Friday at 6.77 percent — the highest since June 1. At least 2,336,131 tests have been administered, nearly 170,000 of which were added Friday.
In K-12 schools, where students and staff are supposed to move to virtual learning if there are more than 25 cases per 100,000 people in their counties, 155 more students and 61 staff have tested positive, according to the school coronavirus dashboard. Nearly 5,000 students and teachers statewide this week were in quarantine because they had contact with someone who tested positive.
Eighty out of Kentucky’s 120 counties remain in the “red zone,” where spread is considered dangerous and critical. Beshear each day this week urged people in those counties to be aggressively cautious in public. He’s asked people, until spread markedly reduces in their county, not to get together with people outside their household; to opt for curbside pick-up instead of dining inside restaurants; to work from home and to attend school virtually, and not to visit their loved ones in nursing homes.
“We can only get back to normal if we address it head on,” Beshear said Friday. “That’s why I am urging all of you, especially those in red counties, to follow recommendations for reducing the spread in your community.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 4:57 PM.
