As of Wednesday afternoon, 13 additional cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Northern Kentucky, for 168 total cases. There are 78 cases in Kenton County, 39 cases in Campbell County, 40 cases in Boone County and 11 cases in Grant County.
There have been 13 total deaths related to COVID-19 in NKY, according to NKY Health. For more details, please visit the website.
Gov. Andy Beshear reported 204 new cases and eight new deaths in Kentucky, bringing the total in the state to 1346 cases and 71 deaths.
As a sign of compassion and renewal, the Governor asked Kentuckians to join him in lighting their homes green tonight in honor of the lives lost.
It has been a month since Kentucky declared a State of Emergency in response to COVID-19, followed by a series of orders by the Governor to promote social distancing and slow the spread of the virus.
According to Dr. Lynne Saddler, District Director of Health, while it is still early in the pandemic, the Governor shared graphs in his press conference yesterday that indicate this strategy is working.
“It may not seem like it, because new cases are reported daily, but we have yet to see a dramatic increase in cases as has been experienced in other states,” said Saddler. “This demonstrates that we need to keep up the good social distancing, wash hands often, cover coughs and sneezes, and only go out for essential services and exercise. Without a vaccine or approved treatment, social distancing is the most powerful weapon we have in the fight against COVID-19, which each one of us can do.”
Beshear urged Kentuckians to be resilient in the face of hardship and sacrifice made as cases of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Commonwealth continue to grow.
“Remember even with those sacrifices, there are going to be escalating cases before we have fewer cases. In other words, we still know that across the country and here in Kentucky that it is going to get tougher before it gets better,” the Governor said. “But we are not talking about an indefinite period of time. We know that there is an end. We just have to be strong enough to get there.”
To further strengthen measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Beshear announced new executive actions to boost social distancing.
A new order limits one adult per household in the store at a time at those businesses still open,
La Tasha Buckner, the Governor’s general counsel and chief of staff, said the new rule is aimed at cutting down crowds and opportunities for essential shopping runs to turn into a social hour.
Beshear extended a previous executive order that will allow pharmacists and pharmacies to better treat Kentuckians amid the coronavirus outbreak in the Commonwealth.
Under the order, pharmacists will be able to dispense emergency refills for up to another 30-day supply of non-scheduled medications to Kentucky residents. It also gives pharmacists wide discretion in dispensing medications to fight COVID-19, requiring only that they follow guidelines and advice of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health or the state commissioner of public health.
Pharmacists also will be allowed to work out of temporary or non-traditional areas that otherwise would be restricted. The order runs through May 8 but can be extended.
Kentucky Department for Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said Kentucky Dam Village will be the first state park to be used to house a volunteer medical team of four people.
For more information, visit the NKY Health COVID-19 page on or www.kycovid19.ky.gov. You can also call Kentucky’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-800-722-5725. The Governor’s press releases are available here: https://governor.ky.gov/news
Beshear’s 10-Step Guidance
I’d like to see some rates – meaning what percent of persons tested were positive; and some absolute numbers of those tested, to compare the scope of testing to other areas.