Kentucky adds 2,953 COVID-19 cases. Beshear praises slowing spread before holidays.
Kentucky added 2,953 COVID-19 cases and 26 new deaths related to the virus on Wednesday, a release from Gov. Andy Beshear’s office said.
In the release, Beshear praised Kentuckians for “beating back exponential growth of this virus before Christmas.” The new cases brings the reported state total to 250,280. The rate of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus dropped to 8.35 percent — down from 8.49 percent on Tuesday.
The 26 deaths raises the state total up to 2,466. Currently there are 1,644 hospitalized with the virus — 413 of those individuals are in intensive care units.
In the release, Beshear also reminded Kentuckians to keep gatherings small during the upcoming holidays.
“What I love about this holiday most is that it’s not about the gifts; it’s about people taking care of each other and appreciating their loved ones and community more than ever,” Beshear said in the release. “Let’s all live up to the true spirit of Christmas this year, and every year in the future after we get through this together.”
More state leaders were also vaccinated Wednesday, Beshear said. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Chief Judge Denis G. Clayton of the state appellate court, acting Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. and Michael Dossett, the emergency management director.
Also among those vaccinated were the governor’s chief of staff, La Tasha Buckner, senior adviser Rocky Adkins and Virginia Moore, the sign-language interpreter on many of Beshear’s briefings and the executive director of the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
“These vaccines are safe, they’re effective, and they will save the lives of thousands of Kentuckians and help us end this long nightmare,” said Gov. Beshear. “By the end of this month, we are expecting more than 200,000 doses of vaccines that will slow the spread of COVID and protect our health care heroes, our veterans and residents and workers at long-term care facilities.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 4:54 PM.