With advice from White House, more COVID restrictions may come Monday

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Gov. Andy Beshear warned Kentuckians Sunday that after a conversation with one of the chief White House medical advisors, more coronavirus-related restrictions may be announced Monday, especially with Sunday’s new case numbers relatively high for a Sunday.

“I want you to know that the White House and Kentucky state government are in complete agreement that the escalation of cases is going to require us to take some new steps,” Beshear said in releasing Sunday case details. “We’re going to announce those steps tomorrow and we’ll talk through the what and the why behind each one.”

They may go as far as dramatically restricting bar and restaurant capacity if not closing them completely.

As of 3 p.m. Sunday, Beshear said the state had 316 new cases, pushing the state’s total across 27,000 to 27,079.

Eight new cases were from children ages 5 and younger.

“Kentucky is in that spot now where if we don’t act, we will look a lot like states in the South that are facing devastating consequences,” Beshear stated. “Thankfully today’s numbers are lower than what we’ve seen recently, but we know less testing comes in on Sundays.”

The governor reported four new deaths Sunday, raising the total to 700 Kentuckians lost to the virus.

The deaths reported Sunday include a 70-year-old woman from Harlan County; a 37-year-old man and an 87-year-old woman from Jefferson County; and a 76-year-old man from Ohio County.

:Last week was a difficult one in the United States and in Kentucky,” said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public Health. “Nationally, cases surpassed 4.1 million, and in our commonwealth, over 27,000 cases have now been reported. It seems like an eternity since we reported Kentucky’s first positive COVID-19 patient on March 6. Every day is important and the upcoming week will determine which additional measures will be needed to blunt the increase of COVID-19 in our commonwealth. Please avoid crowds, socially distance at least six feet and wear a face covering when in public.”

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.