Positivity rate down, new day care rules, Beshear warns of public ‘sleeping’

FRANKFOPRT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Kentucky reported a “normal” Monday with 381 new coronavirus cases.

But during his daily briefing Monday, Gov.. Andy Beshear warned the public not to be “sleeping” or the virus will take control even more.

Beshear and Cabinet Secretary Eric Friedlander also announced new rules for day care centers and warned groups that were opening Non-traditional learning centers and similar operations without the proper licenses could be in trouble.

“We also recognize our children’s need to learn and socialize and the essential role of child care for working parents. It is good that everyone is now recognizing the importance of child care,” said Friedlander, the secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. “It has been a difficult time for child-care providers. CARES Act funding has resulted in over $67 million going to Kentucky child-care providers.”

In unveiling Journey to a New Kentucky: Changes to Child-Care Facilities Guidance, Friedlander said the department was offering a plan to address increasing capacity and the pre-existing shortages of registered and certified providers, while continuing to enforce child care standards.

Among the provisions in the new guidance:

• Help for parents to meet needs of nontraditional instruction (NTI) days by aiding background checks on providers and ensuring staffers are: masked; using proper hygiene; enforcing health checks and small groups; and have a plan is in place for when someone tests positive for COVID-19.
• Expanding the maximum number of allowed children to 15 for licensed child-care facilities.
• Certified homes, licensed infant and 1-year-old classrooms may return to typical group sizes.
• $2,500 startup incentive bonus through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to encourage new providers.

“We have heard and seen advertising for businesses, everything from caterers to venues that have a space, promoting NTI classes and spaces,” Friedlander said. “We will inspect, we will make sure they are meeting the rules. If they aren’t we will ask them to close.”

The 381 new coronavirus cases pushed the state’s total to 48,396 as the six-month anniversary of the first case nears.

Of the new cases, 43 are in children 18 and younger, of which two were children ages 5 and under. The youngest was a 1-year-old from Madison County.

“We always have lower numbers on Sundays and Mondays, due to lab closures over the weekend. But the White House report for this week still has 59 of our 120 counties in the red or yellow zone” Beshear said. “We don’t want any of our counties in either. Let’s remember how serious this is and not act like everything is normal.

“It’s like we have been asleep. We can’t just wake up, we’ve got to keep doing the things we need to do,” he added.

Beshear reported three new deaths Monday, raising the total to 933 Kentuckians lost to the virus.

The deaths include a 61-year-old man from Lincoln County; a 72-year-old woman from Martin County; and a 65-year-old man from Owen County.

As of Monday, there have been at least 877,443 coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky. The positivity rate currently stands at 4.42%, which marked the fifth straight day below 5 percent and another day on the decline.

At least 10,375 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.

More cases also have been reported at day care centers, schools and universities although no severe outbreaks were reported in the numbers released Monday.

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.

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.