Coronavirus cases highest for a Monday; positivity rate nears 5%, hospitalizations are up; Beshear says we know how to fix it

State graph, labeled by Ky. Health News; previous week has backlog of 1,426. (Click to enlarge)
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By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear announced 647 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the unadjusted seven-day rolling average to 1,065, five under the record set Saturday.

He said this is the highest number of cases the state has seen on a Monday, which are typically lower than other days because many laboratories aren’t open or don’t report cases on the weekend.

“At a time when we need cases to be going down, when more people are going to be going inside, when our kids are going back or will be back in school in some places, we need to do better,” Beshear said at his daily briefing. “If we want to keep doing some of the activities that we’re doing now, we need to keep doing better.”

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days was 4.97 percent, perilously close to 5%, which would put the state as a whole in an official danger zone. Many if not most of its counties already are.

Beshear said 764 people in Kentucky are hospitalized with covid-19, which appears to be a record. He said 190 of them are in intensive care and 89 of those are on a ventilator.

The governor said the state has enough hospital capacity, but cautioned that could change very quickly with a rapid increase in case numbers. He said nearly 66% of the state’s hospital beds are occupied, 71% of its intensive care beds are occupied, and only 28% of its ventilators are in use.

Asked if he would implement any new restrictions based on the latest escalation of cases, Beshear said, “We are not currently looking at new restrictions, but we have got to get these numbers down.” If that doesn’t happen, he said, “I fully anticipate that the White House will ask us again to limit bars and restaurants.”

He added, “We now know how to stop the spread of the virus, we’ve just got to be willing to do it.” He stressed the importance of wearing a mask and keeping it on when you are around anyone who does not live in your household, making sure you don’t have more than 10 people over to your house, social distancing, keeping your hands washed, staying home when sick and getting tested regularly.

The state reported its highest number of new cases last week, 7,352, not counting the week before, when it reported 7,444 and 1,426 of them were backlogged cases from Fayette County.

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman praised the 1,570 Kentucky schools that have reported their coronavirus data for at least one day on the K-12 dashboard, including the 41 that newly reported since last week. However, she said that still leaves 162 that have never reported any information since the dashboard went live three weeks ago.  Coleman said the dashboard is meant to give Kentucky families a snapshot of where their school is in the fight against coronavirus.

“Our Kentucky families need that kind of effort and commitment from every education leader on a normal day, but certainly during the middle of a global health pandemic,” she said.

Health Commissioner Steven Stack said the first shipment of the vaccine is expected in late 2020 or early 2021 from the federal government and that the initial shipment will be in “small quantities.” He added that the vaccine will be distributed in a phased approach, with the first doses being given to frontline health care workers and first responders followed by those who are considered high-risk. As more vaccine becomes available, it will be offered to the general public.

“We’re cautiously hopeful that by later next year, we should have quite a sufficient quantity to be able to vaccinate the vast majority of the American people,” he said.

Beshear announced nine more deaths from covid-19, bringing the state’s death toll to 1,326. He stressed that every death on that list is related to the disease, after examination of cases by public-health experts.

Ruthie Martinez

“We do more work to confirm that covid-19 was a contributing factor to these deaths than just about any other state,” he said. “This disease is devastating to each and every one of these families. This virus is real, and it is cruel.”

Beshear honored the life of Ruthie Martinez, a 49-year-old Lexington woman who died of covid-19. She was a teacher at Winburn Middle School. Her husband of 28 years, Miguel, told Beshear that his wife was “a terrific teacher and an amazing human being” who will be missed by him, their children, her grandchildren, all those who loved her and the students she impacted.

Beshear continues to conduct his daily briefing remotely as he and his family remain in quarantine after being potentially exposed to the virus on Oct. 10 by a member of their security detail. Beshear said his family continues to test negative for the virus and that they feel well.