Kentucky reports 300,000th case of the novel coronavirus, outbreaks at prisons; Beshear again warns about new legislation

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

As the pandemic’s latest surge in Kentucky put the state over 300,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, and the positive-test rate moved above 12 percent, Gov. Andy Beshear implicitly warned that legislation the General Assembly sent to him Saturday would “hamper our ability to fight a deadly virus.”

The state reported 4,250 new cases Saturday, for a total of 300,398 and a seven-day average of 3,800, far above the previous record of 3,440 – reflecting the surge of cases during the week.

The percentage of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus over the last seven days rose to 12.32%, ensuring that the average for the reporting week ending Sunday would be the highest ever, except the week ending May 3, when testing became more available and the rate exceeded 15%.

“The positivity rate is in a very dangerous place,” Beshear said in a video posted on his Facebook page. “This is not the time to hamper our ability to fight a deadly virus.”

The Democratic governor was alluding to a package of bills that the Republican-controlled legislature finished passing earlier in the afternoon. They would limit his powers in several ways, including his ability to issue emergency public-health mandates during the pandemic.

“We need to make sure we have the same tools available to our department of public health to fight this virus that other states do,” Beshear said, reiterating his assertion that his efforts are responsible for Kentucky having half the Covid-19 death rate that Tennessee has.

“Failure to take this virus seriously, and failure to respond to it like we are in war, and that the battlefield can change, is the difference between life and death,” Beshear said. He has said he will veto the bills, but the legislature can easily override vetoes; he has said he will challenge the bills in court.

The state reported 20 more deaths attributed to Covid-19 Saturday, raising its death toll to 2,876. It did not release a list of the dead.

Hot spots: The state’s daily report showed Morgan County with an extremely high average of daily new cases over the last seven days, 605 per 100,000 residents, reflecting an outbreak at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty.

The Department of Corrections‘ Covid-19 report as of Friday showed 353 cases among inmates at the prison, all active cases, and 70 among employees, 28 active. It also indicated an outbreak at the Roderer Correctional Complex in Oldham County, which had even more active cases, 444 among prisoners and 21 among staff. Northpoint Training Center near Burgin in Mercer County had 60 among inmate and 18 among staff.

Mercer County’s seven-day average of daily new cases per 100,000 population is 116, which makes it 13th in the state; Oldham’s is 108, which ranks it 18th. The No. 2 county, at 177, is Clay, which has a federal prison. Federal prisons generally do not issue coronavirus reports.

Other counties with seven-day averages of daily new cases above 100 per 100,000, rounded to the nearest whole number, are: Carroll, 161; Hancock, 150; Clinton, 136; Boyd, 135; Cumberland, 134; Harrison, 129; Ohio, 125; Harlan, 124; Webster, 123; Jackson, 117; McLean, 115; Warren, 115; Boyle, 113; Graves, 110; Laurel, 107; Whitley, 105; Daviess, 105; Henderson, 104; Wayne, 104; and Nicholas, 102. The state’s overall rate is 80.

Counties with 10 or more new cases Saturday were: Jefferson, 496; Fayette, 279; Morgan, 217; Warren, 174; Kenton, 161; Clay, 142; Boone, 124; Daviess, 115; Oldham, 115; Henderson, 94; Hardin, 83; Laurel, 83; Christian, 78; Boyle, 65; Campbell, 56; Pike, 56; Madison, 52; Nelson, 52; Pulaski, 51; Boyd, 49; Barren, 48; McCracken, 48; Hopkins, 47; Clark, 46; Caldwell, 44; Bullitt, 42; Franklin, 39; Ohio, 39; Taylor, 37; Shelby, 35; Harrison, 32; Calloway, Graves , Harlan and Montgomery, 31; Floyd and Whitley, 29; Jackson and Marion, 28; Bell, Letcher, and Rowan, 27; Bath and Scott, 25; Allen and Bracken, 24; Hart, Knox and Woodford, 23; Jessamine and Muhlenberg, 22; Mercer, 21; Russell and Todd, 20; Johnson, 19; Lincoln and Simpson, 18; Carroll, Crittenden, Hancock, Marshall and Webster, 16; Grant, Logan and Trigg, 15; Anderson, Breckinridge, Carter, Garrard, Powell and Union, 14; Adair, Bourbon, Breathitt, Grayson and Lawrence, 13; Henry, Livingston, Rockcastle and Washington, 12; McLean, Magoffin, Meade, Metcalfe, Pendleton and Spencer, 11; and Clinton, Mason and Owen, 10.

In other coronavirus news Saturday:

• Hospitalizations for Covid-19 in Kentucky remained generally stable, at 1,752, but the numbers of patients under intensive care and on ventilators declined, to 384 and 201, respectively, from 390 and 217.
• Only two of the state’s 10 hospital regions were red-flagged in the state’s daily report for having more than 80 percent of their beds or intensive-care-unit beds filled. The Lake Cumberland region, where ICU occupancy had been around 95%, is now at 87%; Barren River is at 83%.