Case numbers down from last week, state remains cautiously optimistic

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Although the positivity test rate, hospital patients and ICU beds are up, the state still is running below last week’s numbers in new coronavirus cases, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Wednesday.

That continues to spark optimism, but the governor pushed caution on a number of fronts, from schools to restaurants and bars.

“We are about 100 cases below where we were on Monday through Wednesday last week,” Beshear said, announcing 546 new cases during his Wednesday briefing. “It strongly suggest and is evidence of facial coverings do work.”

The new cases pushed the state total to 32,741. Of the new cases, 21 were children under 5. One of those is 18 days old.

And area counties continue to see big new numbers, Jefferson had 104, Fayette 59, Madison 15, Jessamine 10, Scott 10 and Franklin nine.

The state’s positivity rate ticked up to 5.51 percent with 620 people in the hospital and 131 in ICU.

The state reported one new death, meaning 752 people have now died from the complications related to the disease.

“This is not going to last forever,” the Governor said. “We are going to make it through, but we are going to have to do what it takes to make sure as many of our fellow Kentuckians make it through with us and that we protect each other’s lives, lift up our economy and do everything we can to get our kids back in school.”

As of Wednesday, there have been at least 663,100 coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky. At least 8,467 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.

“I believe you are doing the right thing, the vast majority of people are wearing a face covering and it is making a difference,” the Governor said. “It looks like we are stopping a very dangerous situation from occurring and we need to keep it up.”

For additional 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. To see all recent daily reports, click here.

When asked about easing rules on restaurants and bars, Beshear repeated his thoughts from earlier in the week.

“We hope to be able to do something next week,” he said, repeating possibilities include seated-only on bars, a 10 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants and possibly eased capacities. Curfews have had some success in other states and 10 p.m. seems to “be the best option other states have used.”

“But we can’t have people leaving bars at 10 p.m. and going to parties with 200 or 300 people,” he said.

He continued by saying the massive testing program the University of Kentucky has implemented is a step in the right direction. But problems with athletes at the University of Louisville and questions raised by an athlete at Eastern Kentucky all point to the bigger issues.

“It is an enormous effort,” he said of the UK program. But he added the challenge is getting students to not “engage in reckless behavior.”

For instance, the outbreak mong Louisville athletes has been traced back to a party, the governor noted.

“It;s the frustration of so many businesses and organizations…they do everything they can and think everything is running well and four employees go to Florida and come back and spread the virus,” he said, talking about an anecdotal case in the state.

“It shows the real challenges in the operation of our universities and athletics…it’s going to be tough.”

He also said he expects an announcement this week in possible changes to the Kentucky State Fair which is supposed to start in 10 days. And when asked about schools open in-person classes, he said, “If it were today, I would suggest schools delay from the third week in August. I would like to see the positivity rate down and other numbers, too…especially seeing the experience in schools opening in other states.”

First Lady Launches Coverings for Kids Program
First Lady Britainy Beshear on Tuesday launched a new program, Coverings for Kids, that will help Kentuckians to donate facial coverings directly to school districts.

Information, including links to tutorials and patterns to make both child- and adult-size facial coverings, can be found on the Coverings for Kids web page. To view the complete Coverings for Kids news release, click here.