Kentucky sees worst coronavirus day yet, with more than 4,000 new cases, 35 deaths and other record measurements of misery
From Gov. Andy Beshear’s Twitter page
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By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
Gov. Andy Beshear announced record numbers for almost every metric the state uses to measure the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, calling it “a terrible day.”
“No way to sugarcoat it,” Beshear said at his daily briefing. “Today is the very worst day that we have had for reporting on the spread of the coronavirus and it is the deadliest day that we have had. This is exponential growth. . . . If we don’t all do our part, if we try to be the exception, then slowing down this thing won’t work and we will lose a lot more Kentuckians we love and care about.”
Asked why he is allowing elementary schools outside counties with the highest range of infections to reopen next Monday, Dec. 7, but keeping middle and high schools closed until Jan. 4, Beshear said evidence shows less virus spread among elementary students, and in-person learning is more important for them.
“Our community response isn’t where it needs to be,” Beshear said. “Whether or not people in long-term-care facilities get covid is about what we do in our daily lives, the decisions we make and whether or not we do what it takes to prevent it from spreading to those around us.”
Beshear reported that another veteran at the state’s Thomson-Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore, who was previously listed as recovered, had died, bringing the center’s death toll from the virus to 31. He said there is currently two active cases in the center and no new cases have been reported for 18 days.
He also announced that the veteran who was the first active case at Western Kentucky Veterans Center in Hanson had died. In addition, he said a 37-year-old inmate from the Lee Adjustment Center, a privately operated state prison, had died from covid-19.
In other covid-19 news Tuesday:
- Tuesday’s deaths were a 70-year-old Boyd County man; a 75-year-old Calloway County man; an 82-year-old Christian County man; a 96-year-old Daviess County woman; a 95-year-old Graves County woman; two women, 79 and 86, and two men, 57 and 66, from Grayson County; a 93-year-old Henderson County woman; an 87-year-old Hopkins County man; six women, 61, 64, 76, 77, 77 and 80, and seven men, ages 62, 64, 64, 66, 72, 73 and 94, from Jefferson County; a 62-year-old Jessamine County woman; a 76-year-old Kenton County man; a 79-year-old Marshall County woman; a 66-year-old Mason County woman; two men, 59 and 64, from McCracken County; a woman, 88, and a man, 64, from Monroe County; a 65-year-old Montgomery County man; a 93-year-old Robertson County woman; and an 82-year-old Union County man.
- Counties with 10 or more new cases were: Jefferson, 700; Fayette, 238; McCracken, 172; Warren, 148; Kenton, 126; Hardin, 120; Daviess, 119; Boone, 102; Madison, 97; Laurel, 89; Oldham, 80; Campbell, 73; Christian, 72; Hopkins, 67; Marion, 62; Bullitt, 61; Lincoln, 56; Nelson, 55; Hart, 54; Pike, 51; Montgomery, 50; Carter and Clay, 49; Barren and Graves, 48; Pulaski, 44; Greenup, 41; Magoffin, 39; Marshall, 38; Rowan and Woodford, 36; Whitley, 35; Jessamine, 34; Boyle, 32; Floyd, 31; Ohio, 30; Bell and Henderson, 29; Franklin, 28; Knox and Washington, 27; Clark, Johnson and Logan, 26; Harlan, 25; Anderson, Boyd, Mercer, Rockcastle and Taylor, 23; Lawrence, 22; Garrard, 21; Adair and Scott, 20; Calloway, 18; Grant, Larue and Simpson, 17; Monroe, Perry and Shelby, 16; Bracken and Jackson, 15; Edmonson, Muhlenberg and Pendleton, 14; Grayson and Harrison, 13; Livingston and Mason, 11; and Butler, Letcher, Martin, Union and Wayne, 10.
- Beshear said 2,650 restaurants and bars have applied for the Food and Beverage Relief Fund, for a total of $25.6 million in assistance. The state has already approved applications for $1.7 million. To apply, click here. Beshear said he expects bars and restaurants will be able to resume indoor service on Dec. 14 as planned.
- As cases continue to surge in Kentucky, Beshear encouraged Kentuckians to get tested. Click here to find a location near you.
- The Healthy at Home Utility Relief Fund still has about $11 million in it that must be dolled out before Dec. 30. “Eligible households can receive a one-time $500 benefit towards their water and or wastewater bills and $400 towards their natural gas or utility bills,” said Beshear. Households who have an income up to 200% of the federal poverty line and have been economically impacted due by covid-19 can apply through their local Community Action office. Click here to find your local office, as well as a list of required documentation, or call 800-456-3452.
- Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn told McClatchy Newspapers on Tuesday that the FDA will not automatically authorize emergency use of coronavirus vaccines before completing a rigorous independent review. “The urgency of the situation is a pressure that I think is substantial on all of us,” he said in the phone interview. “Our career staff recognize that and are working with great speed. But also we’ve maintained a commitment to using data and science, and we will continue to do that.”
- The coronavirus may have been spreading in America as early as December 2019, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that found coronavirus antibodies in 106 of the 7,389 blood samples from routine blood donations to the American Red Cross between Dec. 13, 2019 and Jan. 17, 2020, the Herald-Leader reports. However, the researchers also said they wondered if the detection of antibodies in these samples indicates a past coronavirus infection, or that of another pathogen in the coronavirus family, such as the common cold. They also say “widespread community transmission was not likely until late February.”
- In a decision released Monday, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Kentuckians who report people or businesses to the state for failing to comply with its pandemic restrictions should not be granted anonymity, John Cheves reports for the Herald-Leader. The ruling was made against the Labor Cabinet in an appeal under the state Open Records Act. “In a letter to Cameron, the cabinet warned that publicly identifying tipsters ‘will have a chilling effect on citizens’ good-faith reporting of non-compliance with public health orders,’ especially if their names are posted online by Beshear’s critics,” Cheves writes.
- Dalton Godbey of Louisville’s WDRB looks at why state and local coronavirus and covid-19 statistics don’t always match up.
- The director of the Laurel County Health Department told Phil Pendleton of WYMT that he expects a surge of coronavirus cases in mid-December. Health leaders told him most of their contact tracing points to the virus being spread in household gatherings.