New Kentucky COVID-19 cases continue to decline. 1,802 cases and 17 deaths.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 1,802 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Monday, bringing the state’s total to 224,890 and marking the second Monday in a row of declining case totals as the first Kentuckians received the coronavirus vaccine.
Beshear also announced 17 new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the state’s official death toll to 2,224.
“Today marks the beginning of the end of COVID-19,” Beshear said. “We are going to defeat this virus in 2021.”
With a plateau in cases, Beshear has allowed bars and restaurants to reopen indoor seating to 50 percent capacity. However, schools in “red counties,” places where the county is averaging more than 25 cases per 100,000 people a day, remain closed to in-person instruction through January 4.
Beshear and the Kentucky Department for Public Health recommended Monday that schools not return to in-person instruction until January 11 in order to prevent further spread of the virus by people who gather with others over the Christmas holiday.
Beshear made several other adjustments to the state’s school guidelines, which will allow school districts in red zones to continue with a “more aggressive” mix of in-person and virtual learning, provided they reduce the number of people in a school at any given time. He said the goal is to give local officials more discretion in determining their hybrid model, allowing them to take into consideration factors like the size of the building.
“This is going to be local decision making and what we’re asking is for people to be thoughtful,” Beshear said.
However, he is adding mandatory “healthy at school” requirements that involve making accommodations for any “at-risk” educators (people older than 65 and those with heart or lung conditions) and providing equal access to classes for students who are attending virtually. There was at least one school last semester that only provided AP classes for students who attended in person, he said.
Beshear said he expects educators to begin being vaccinated around February 1 but hopes it can begin sooner, depending on how many doses of the vaccine the state receives. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require a booster shot, which means it takes a few weeks before they are effective.
Initial shots of the vaccine Monday went to frontline health care workers at University of Louisville Health, the Medical Center in Bowling Green and Baptist Health Lexington. Each hospital received more than 900 doses of the vaccine. Another seven hospitals will receive their first doses of the vaccine Tuesday — Norton Healthcare in Louisville, UK Chandler Medical Center in Lexington, Pikeville Medical Center, St. Elizabeth Edgewood Hospital and Baptist Health in Corbin, Louisville and Madisonville.
Beshear said the vaccine will start being distributed at long-term care facilities on the 21st. On Monday, Beshear said there are 2,760 active cases of COVID-19 among residents of long-term care facilities and 1,401 active cases among staff. There have been at least 1,551 COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities.
“This shows the importance of doing these vaccinations as quickly as Walgreens and CVS will,” Beshear said. Those companies have been contracted by the federal government to provide the vaccine in nursing homes.
Currently, 91.5 percent of Kentucky’s COVID-19 deaths have been people over the age of 60. Beshear said the federal government is weighing whether older Americans or the people who are most at risk of being exposed to the virus should be vaccinated next.
The vaccine is arriving at a moment when daily cases of the virus have plateaued in Kentucky. Last week, there was a decrease in the number of cases from the week before and in the official positivity rate. Monday’s positivity rate was 8.58 percent, a slight increase from Sunday.
Despite the plateau, there are still three regions in the state — two in south-central Kentucky and one in Eastern Kentucky — where hospital beds are more than 83 percent occupied.
The Beshear Administration also reopened the state’s eviction relief fund for applications over the next 24 to 48 hours. Already, $12.3 million was awarded to 3,254 households. Kentuckians can apply at https://teamkyhherf.ky.gov/
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 4:30 PM.
