Going to get worse, leaders warn of COVID; national mask mandate needed, but not likely

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Kentucky started a new week with the highest number of new cases on a Monday in more than a month, coming on the heels of the highest week since the outbreak began seven months ago.

And Gov. Andy Beshear and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack warned, “it as ugly as we’ve seen” and it “is going to get worse,” if state residents don’t start abiding by the rules.

Stack went as far as to call the nation “a spectacular failure” compared to countries like Canada, Germany and New Zealand when it coms to doing what it takes to get and keep the virus under control.”

And as much as he wishes he would, Beshear said he doesn’t think President Donald Trump will impose a national mask mandate, even as he is recovering from being hospitalized with the coronavirus. And Beshear worried some people will misconstrue the President’s tweet Monday afternoon encouraging people not to let the virus “dominate your life.”

But with all that said, Beshear said he expects the White House to recommend further steps to try to contain the spread of the virus as numbers in Kentucky and the nation escalate.

“If we can’t stop the escalation, the White House will recommend” steps such as lowering capacities, Beshear said when asked where he sees the current surge leading the nation.

“We will have to take a serious look at it…we will have to seriously consider…we just need everyone to believe it,” Beshear said, adding he thinks that time will come within a few weeks if not sooner.

“I don’t anticipate we will see a national mask mandate…I think we should, but I don’t anticipate it,” Beshear said at another point.

As for the President’s tweet advising Americans to “don’t be afraid of it, don’t let it dominate our life,” Beshear said, “I get that” when it comes to letting the virus dominate one’s life.

“But we need to have a healthy fear of it…if we don’t, other people will pay the price, I hope we all have a healthy fear of it,” the governor said.

Overall, the governor both praised and criticized Trump’s handling of his own coronavirus diagnosis and hospitalization.

“He did some actions that set good examples and some that set bad examples,” Beshear said, praising the President’s public acknowledgement that he had tested positive and sought treatment.

But in other areas, the President still could help the nation.

“We’ve needed him to wear a mask for months. We need him to wear a mask every day. I believe there are people who will wear one if he will,” Beshear said, saying he feared the President is setting “a bad example” by leaving he hospital “too soon.”

Regardless of what the President does, his case should be an illustration.

“Th White House shows how careful we have to be…how fast it can spread through a place than tests every day,” Beshear pointed out.

The governor said state departments will start cracking down more on companies and businesses that are violating COVID health and safety rules and he is asking mayors and county judges to do the same.

“We’ve got to get it at the local level…we very much need stronger enforcement,” he stated, noting the state is beyond the days of trying to nicely “educate” businesses that won’t comply with masks, social distancing and capacity requirements.

The state reported 543 new cases Monday, raising the state’s overall total since March 6 to 73,158.

The positivity rate is 4.69 percent, down slightly from Saturday but still creeping toward the dangerous 5 percent mark.

The state also recorded five new deaths, bringing that total to 1,214.

The deaths reported Monday include a 69-year-old man from Boyd County; an 85-year-old man and two women, ages 91 and 99, from Daviess County; and a 71-year-old man from Robertson County.

For information, including up-to-date lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here.

Information about COVID-19 and schools is also being made available. To view the reports, click here for K-12 and here for colleges and universities.

The state had a record 6,126 cases last week, which came on top of the prior week’s record of 4,949.

“It took us two months at the start of all this to get to 6,000 cases and now we’ve done it in a week,” Beshear advised.

“We have to do better…this is a test of our values, a test of our faith…wearing a mask is an inconvenience at most, are we willing to wear a mask to protect others” and our schools and businesses, Beshear continued.

The governor also reported the Thompson Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore is experiencing an outbreak with 18 residents and nine staff testing positive. Six of the veterans have been transferred to the VA Hospital in Lexington.

During his remarks, Stack was even more straightforward.

“We are on the verge of a Florida or Texas or Arizona,” he said of states that went through horrific escalations and deaths late in the summer.

He noted the state very well could be at 6,000 last week and 10,000 in a matter of another week or two.

“It’s about as ugly as we’ve seen…I am afraid it is going to get worse,” Stack stated.

Using charts comparing the U.S. to other developed nations, he continued, “We should be humiliated as a country at how poorly we have done at this.

“We are number one in an absolutely saddening way…it is ours to get done, our choices in a free democracy,” he said flatly. “We are going to pay a steep price…if we don’t get it right soon, we are going to feel the bite.”

As emotional as he was through much of the question-and-answer session, Beshear may have saved his sharpest words for when he was asked about video shown on social media today of a man sitting on the horn of he vehicle it anger and impatience behind a Bullitt County school bus temperature checking students as they boarded.

“What a jerk,” Beshear retorted…”nothing you are going to is that important.”

While the coronavirus has shown examples of the goodness in people, it also has “exposed some people who need to open their Bibles, talk to their minister, get their head right,” Beshear concluded.