Ky. records over 1,000 virus cases for 6th day, and 3rd out of the last 4; 7-day rolling average is 837, over 100 above week ago
By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News
Kentucky recorded 1,039 more cases of the coronavirus Friday, the third day out of the last four and only the sixth overall that the number has exceeded 1,000. The high was 1,163 on Aug, 12; Sept. 19 saw 1,002.
Friday’s number raised the seven-day rolling average of new cases to 837, more than 100 higher than a week earlier and almost four times as high as it was three months ago.
“The situation is getting very dangerous in Kentucky,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “If you care about your economy, if you care about getting your kids into school, if you care about the lives of those around you, put on your mask. Socially distance; wash your hands; follow the rules. We’ve got to be Team Kentucky right now. We need your help and I know you’re going to come through.”
Earlier in his news release, Beshear said the word that President Trump, his wife and some advisers had tested positive “shows you that anybody can get this. We wish them the best and a speedy recovery, and this is an example of why we all have to be wearing masks. We all have to do our part.”
The release was issued about 20 minutes before the White House press office said the 74-year-old Trump would be admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Earlier, it said he had a fever and was fatigued, and was taking the maximum recommended dose of experimental antibiotic cocktail as therapy. Melania Trump, 50, was reported to have a cough and a headache.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, 77, wished Trump and the first lady a “swift recovery” in a tweet, then tested negative twice and made a speech in Michigan, wearing a mask from start to finish and urging his audience to do likewise. Trump had mocked Biden for wearing a large mask.
The White House said mask wearing in the building would remain optional. Vice President Pence and his wife have tested negative, his office said. Trump faces “the most serious known medical threat to a sitting president in decades,” said CNN, which reported other cases at the White House.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wouldn’t say whether he has been tested for the virus in the past week, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. “Have I ever been tested? Yes,”he said. “I’m not going to answer questions about when. We are following the guidelines that we’ve been given by the CDC.”
McConnell “said he has not come in contact with anyone known to have tested positive for the virus,” the newspaper reports. “The average incubation period for covid-19 is three to five days, though it can be as many as 14.”
Beshear reported six more deaths from covid-19, raising the state’s death toll to 1,197. The fatalities were a 68-year-old man from Boyd County; a 69-year-old woman from Fayette County; a 74-year-old man from McCreary County; a 72-year-old man from Menifee County; a 60-year-old man from Oldham County; and a 70-year-old woman from Pulaski County.
The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the coronavirus in the last seven days was 4.3 percent.
In other covid-19 news Friday:
- Counties with more than 10 new cases were Jefferson, 173; Fayette, 146; Warren, 33; Webster, 30; Madison, 27; Franklin, 25; Harlan, 24; Christian, 23; Daviess, 19; Hardin, 19; Pike, 18; Boone, 17; Bullitt, 17; Clark, 15; Oldham, 15; Henderson, 14; Barren, Kenton, Laurel and Whitley, 13 each; Adair and Boyd, 12 each; Calloway and Wayne, 11 each; and Knox and Rowan, 10 each.
- The state’s daily report said 578 people were hospitalized for covid-19 in Kentucky, 133 of them in intensive care.
- The Black percentage of cases and deaths during the pandemic has declined slightly in the last few weeks, to 11.92% and 12.77%, respectively. Blacks are 8.4% of Kentucky’s population.
- The state report on long-term-care facilities said 127 residents and 96 staff were newly positive for the virus, making for 700 and 484 active cases. Residents have accounted for 686, or 57.3%, of the covid-19 deaths in the state; five staffers have died of the disease.
- The K-12 school report said 89 students and 36 employees tested positive, making for 862 and 423 active cases, respectively.
- Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Herald-Leader reports that 124 of Kentucky’s 172 school districts are holding in-person classes, but some have had to adjust. For example, the day McCracken County Schools reopened, several employees at one elementary tested positive, so that school continued virtual instruction for two weeks while “the other 10 schools in the district started a hybrid model by alternating two days each week of in-person learning.”
- With suicide, depression and anxiety increasing among the state’s young people, state officials, along with the Kentucky Center for School Safety, have asked schools to post new virtual bulletin boards during online classes so students know how to get help, Sara Sidery reports for WDRB. The boards include these numbers: The Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress; The Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) provides free, 24/7 support via text message for anxiety, depression, suicide and school concerns; The STOP Tipline (call or text 866-EYE-ON-KY) is a tool to report unsafe situations in school, like bullying, weapons, drugs, alcohol, etc.; and The National Human Trafficking Hotline, which can by reached by calling 1-888-373-7888 or texting “BeFree” to 233733.