Gov. Andy Beshear reported 546 new COVID cases and one death on Wednesday, bringing the state’s totals to 32,741 cases and 752 deaths. The new cases included 21 children ages 5 and under, including seven kids under a year in age. The youngest was only 18 days old. The death was a 71-year-old woman in Logan County.
“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.”
There were 11 new cases in Kenton County and 6 each in Campbell and Boone counties.
“Today’s number strongly suggests and I believe it’s evidence that face coverings are working,” the Governor said. “Proving that even when other parts of the country may be escalating out of control, that we can still control our own destiny here in Kentucky with a small act that shows we care about each other.”
There have been at least 663,100 coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky. The positivity rate currently stands at 5.51%. 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.
Benefits and Long-Term Care Updates
Eric Friedlander, Secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, provided updates Wednesday on benefit programs to help Kentuckians and work to keep long-term care facilities safe.
“We want folks to sign up for benefits,” Secretary Friedlander said. “It makes sense to have health care coverage during a pandemic. It also makes sense to have food during a pandemic.”
Secretary Friedlander continues to encourage Kentuckians to apply for health care assistance and access to food through the Medicaid, SNAP and WIC programs.
He said approval of a waiver under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act has been granted, giving thousands of Kentucky families an additional six months of SNAP benefits that would have expired June 30. This is in addition to an extension granted to those SNAP households with benefits expiring in March, April and May.
“Take advantage of signing up. When you get SNAP you support your local grocers. When you get Medicaid, you support your local health care industry,” he said. “Without Medicaid, the health care industry would collapse. Without SNAP there would be significant damage to our grocers and local communities.”
Secretary Friedlander also said Kentucky CARES funds are being used to support testing of staffers in all of the commonwealth’s 286 long-term care facilities every 14 days for COVID-19. The testing will continue through 2020 and will help keep residents of these facilities safer.
CARES Act Funds Boost Transportation
Gov. Beshear announced that the federal government has awarded $6.4 million to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The money will go to 16 regional agencies serving 79 Kentucky counties.
“Those transit agencies have been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, through lost ridership and lost revenues,” the Governor said. “It’s important to keep them on the road because public transit is a lifeline for thousands of our fellow Kentuckians. Public transportation is how they get to jobs, medical appointments, the grocery and other places of business.”
Gov. Beshear noted this is the second round of CARES funding for KYTC, following $22.9 million awarded in May. The agency also is awaiting approval of a third round of funding, totaling $12.3 million, for capital projects, including new transit hubs in Richmond and Frankfort.
CARES Act funding can be used for a range of operating expenses, but much of it is spent specifically for the safety and protection of employees and passengers.
The Kentucky Health Network provided this COVID roundup:
▪ Daily reports going back to June 1 are now archived here.
▪ In long-term-care facilities, 13 more residents and 25 more employees tested positive for the virus, five more facilities had at least one case, and three more deaths were attributed to COVID-19. The state is now reporting active cases: 444 among residents, 123 among employees.
▪ In child care, six more facilities were associated with a case, for a total of 110. The cases involve 84 employees and 75 children.
▪ Jessamine County School Supt. Matt Moore overruled the 3-2 vote of the school-board decision to allow both in-person and online “non-traditional instruction.” Moore said schools would only start virtually, WKYT reports. In a letter to parents, he said in part, “COVID-19 cases have recently spiked in our community, as a result, and to safeguard our students and staff, I have made the decision to exercise my authority to utilize our extended NTI plan.”
▪ The president now supports the use of face coverings to thwart the virus, even asking his base to wear them. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that an e-mail his re-election campaign sent to supporters Monday said “We have nothing to lose, and possibly everything to gain” by wearing masks. He added, “We are all in this together, and while I know there has been some confusion surrounding the usage of face masks, I think it’s something we should all try to do when we are not able to be socially distanced from others,” the president said. “I don’t love wearing them either. Masks may be good, they may just be OK, or they may be great.”
▪ COVID-19 at the Kentucky State Reformatory in LaGrange is now linked to deaths in six inmates, the highest number of such fatalities at any of the state’s 13 prisons, Deborah Yetter reports for the Louisville Courier Journal. The state has reported that nine inmates from the reformatory were hospitalized as of last Thursday.