Capacity increasing at KY businesses. COVID-19 vaccinations projected to double.
With Kentucky now in its seventh consecutive week of declining COVID-19 cases, Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday said he feels confident enough to further loosen some of the state’s public health restrictions.
On Friday, Kentucky will raise the maximum capacity limit from 50 percent to 60 percent for a large number of indoor businesses, including bars and restaurants, barber shops and beauty salons, fitness centers, movie theaters, bowling alleys, offices and retail spaces, Beshear said. A 60 percent capacity limit will be recommended, but not required, for churches.
The state’s mask mandate remains in effect for these places, as does the six-foot social distancing rule, Beshear said at his Monday news update.
On March 15, child care centers will be allowed to return to their normal class sizes, Beshear said. At present, child care centers are limited to 15 children per class.
“But let’s remember, we need to be flexible,” the governor said.
“With more aggressive variants out there, which are expected to become the dominant strains, we cannot stop masking, we cannot stop doing the things that we know that tamps down this virus,” he said. “If we do and the cases go back up, we have to be prepared to take the opposite step that we are taking today. And I won’t be hesitant about doing so.”
Kentucky has seen a 72 percent drop in statewide coronavirus case numbers since the worst of the winter surge on Jan. 12, Beshear said.
“Today is going to be the most optimistic report I’ve been able to give you since the beginning of the pandemic,” Beshear said.
On Monday, Kentucky reported 509 new COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths, with a positivity rate of 4.84 percent. Twenty-five of the state’s counties were designated as red counties, meaning they had high virus transmission rates, in stark contrast to week after week when all 120 counties were red, Beshear said.
So far, a total of 699,398 Kentuckians have received their first doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The governor said he expects that number to double in the next month as Kentucky gets access to larger COVID-19 vaccine supplies.
Beshear said Kentucky should get 36,500 doses this week of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two days ago. That single-shot vaccine will be distributed through local health departments and more than 130 independent pharmacies, he said.
Kentucky began vaccinating people in Phase 1C on Monday, which includes anyone age 60 or older, anyone age 16 or older with high-risk conditions and those designated as “essential workers.”
As part of the Phase 1C vaccinations, Beshear said, shots will go for the first time to state prisoners, starting with those age 70 and up. Details for those 170 inmates are still being coordinated, the governor said. So far during the pandemic, 44 state inmates have died, as have five state prison employees, with outbreaks of COVID-19 repeatedly sweeping through the prison system.
Beshear also announced that Kentucky will conduct an audit to determine the accuracy of its official COVID-19 death toll, which currently stands at “at least 4,600 Kentuckians.” Every death certificate issued since the pandemic began a year ago that lists COVID-19 as the cause of death will be compared against the state’s official list to be sure that no individual has gone uncounted in Frankfort, he said.
“We performed this audit in real time until cases skyrocketed in November,” Beshear said. “Recently, we learned that those who regularly perform this function fell behind and stopped doing some of those checks. Instead, they relied solely on reports from local health departments.”
Getting a more complete and accurate tally will “undoubtedly increase our death toll, but I continue to believe it’s the right thing to do, making sure we honor those families,” Beshear said.
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 4:53 PM.
