New virus cases keep slacking, but intensive-care units in three hospital regions are in ‘a very precarious situation,’ Beshear says
Kentucky Health News graph, based on unadjusted initial daily reports
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“We are committed that the other 85 acute-care hospitals will be allocated and will be shipped in that second week, either Moderna or Pfizer vaccines,” Beshear said at his Tuesday briefing. “That means every hospital, acute hospital, that is out there fighting this virus will at least get some by the end of the second week, provided that those shipments do in fact come in.”
State Dept. for Public Health map, adapted by Kentucky Health News; click on it to enlarge |
Hospitals: A main concern about the recent escalation in cases is that hospitals will become overwhelmed.
“Stop it. Stop it. Whoever’s out there doing this, stop,” he said. “You do not have the right to make other people fear for their safety, you do not. That is not an American liberty. That is not your freedom of speech. And in many cases, it’s criminal.”
Louise Connell |
Deaths: Beshear announced 20 additional Covid-19 deaths Tuesday, five of them Kentuckians under 60. Their deaths brought the state’s total number of confirmed deaths from the disease to 2,102.
“The heartbreaking fact about this memorial is Louise was living in a long-term-care facility and likely would have been one of the first to receive the life saving vaccinations coming this month,” said Beshear.
- Today’s confirmed deaths were a 92-year-old woman and a 92-year-old man from Bullitt County; two men, 52 and 72, from Boyd County; a 74-year-old woman from Fayette County; a 58-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman from Hopkins County; a 35-year-old woman and a 90-year-old man from Jefferson County; two men, 56 and 71, from Johnson County; two men, 37 and 83, from Lee County; a 78-year-old man from Marshall County; a 62-year-old man from Nelson County; an 87-year-old woman from Owsley County; two women, 78 and 90, a 79-year-old man from Pike County; and a 66-year-old man from Scott County.
- Counties with more than 10 new cases were: Jefferson, 490; Fayette, 170; Warren, 130; Pulaski, 124; Boyd, 101; Madison, 101; Daviess, 100; Boone, 85; Kenton, 80; Bullitt, 64; Hardin, 61; Laurel and McCracken, 53; Marion, 48; Lincoln, 46; Oldham, 45; Nelson, 42; Knox, 40; Simpson, 39; Campbell, 38; Christian, Clark and Montgomery, 37; Perry, 36; Whitley, 33; Hart and Jessamine, 30 each; Boyle and Mason, 29; Carter and Floyd, 28 each; Pike, 27; Anderson, 26; Scott, 25; Letcher, 22; Grayson and Ohio, 21; Barren, Garrard, Harlan, Mercer and Monroe, 20; Muhlenberg, 19; Franklin, 18; Greenup, Rockcastle, Taylor and Washington, 17; Harrison, Henderson and Hopkins, 16; Logan, 15; Bell, Calloway and Grant, 14; Clay and Johnson, 13; Graves, Lawrence and Russell, 12; and Rowan and Woodford, 11.
- In long-term care, the state reports 2,505 active resident cases and 1,226 active staff cases, with 118 new residents and 88 new staff reported today. There have been 1,417 resident deaths and seven staff deaths attributed to Covid-19.
- Beshear declared Dec. 10, 2020 as “Get Covered Day” and joined a broad coalition of states, health care groups and providers in an effort to encourage mask wearing and to encourage people to sign up for health coverage. Dec. 15 is the last day to sign up for a federally subsidized health plan on healthcare.gov. One part of the campaign is to encourage people to practice the three W’s to reduce Covid-19: Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Watch your distance.
- Walmart and Sam’s Club are selling coronavirus test collection kits online, ranging from $99 to $135, depending on the collection method, Dawson White reports for McClatchy Newspapers. White walks through how it works: The buyer is asked to fill out a survey, which generates a physician’s order for a kit if appropriate. After the buyer gets a kit in the mail and takes a nasal swab or a saliva sample, the sample is mailed to a laboratory and results take between 24 and 48 hours.
- Scientists at AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are the first coronavirus vaccine developers to publish full data from a clinical trial in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, confirming earlier claims that their coronavirus vaccine is 70 percent effective overall, but there’s less data on how well it works in people over 55, suggesting the need for more trials, William Booth and Carolyn Y. Johnson report for The Washington Post. The results, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, show a “highly effective” vaccine that is cheaper and easier to manufacture that its competitors, according to Maria Deloria Knoll of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a commentary with the article. Because of limited supplies of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the U.S. is going to need this vaccine, a health official told the Post.
- The first two doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered today in the United Kingdom to a 90-year-old woman and an 81-year-old man.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that large gatherings like weddings are considered “highest risk” when it’s difficult to social distance and people travel from different areas. Summer Lin of McClatchy reports on several weddings that have been “superspreader” events, and explains the risks.
- Billy Kobin of the Louisville Courier Journal explores how vaccines will affect Kentucky schools, including information about several Republican legislators who want to change state immunization laws.
- Three of Kentucky’s 171 school districts reopened elementary classrooms this week, Kevin Wheatley reports for WDRB, including Crittenden County, Breckinridge County and, in that county, Cloverport Independent.
- As negotiations for an economic relief package bogged down on the issue of legal immunity to businesses and other entities from coronavirus-related lawsuits, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “urged Congress to pass an aid bill that contains neither legal immunity nor state and local government support, two roadblocks to lawmakers striking a relief deal,” CNBC reports.
“What I recommend is we set aside liability and set aside state and local, and pass those things that we can agree on knowing full well we’ll be back at this after the first of the year” during the transition to a Biden administration, the Kentucky Republican told reporters. - The Washington Post shares stories from seven intensive-care nurses about experiences in an article titled: “What seven ICU nurses want you to know about the battle against Covid-19.”
- A Gallup poll of 2,968 adults taken Nov. 16-29 found 63% of Americans would agree to be vaccinated against the coronavirus if the vaccine was “available right now at no cost.” That’s an increase from 58% in October and 50% in September, but not as high as the 66% reported in late July. The poll found 37% said they would not agree to be vaccinated. That’s down from 42% in October and 50% in September, and near the low of 34% reported in July. The poll found that Democrats are more willing than Republicans to be vaccinated: 75% and 50% respectively.
Gallup graph |