Gov. Andy Beshear at his daily coronavirus (COVID-19) briefing on Tuesday said 177 new cases of the virus were confirmed between Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon.
That brings the state’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 2,210. Beshear announced 11 new deaths blamed on the virus, increasing the state’s death toll to 115.
At least 653 people in Kentucky have recovered from the virus (29.5 percent), while approximately 27,697 citizens have been tested.
The state’s fatality rate stands at 5.2 percent, well above the national fatality rate of 4.2 percent – According to the latest numbers, 612,380 people in the U.S. have tested positive for the virus, with 25,949 deaths. Michigan has the country’s highest COVID-19 fatality rate at 6.3 percent.
The COVID-19 deaths reported Tuesday are three from Jefferson County, two from Campbell and Kenton counties and one each from Laurel, Adair, Lincoln, and Jackson counties.
The governor said the Adair County victim is 50-year-old Pamela L. Hughes, who worked as a medical technician at Summit Manor nursing home, and is the first healthcare worker at a long-term care facility to perish from the virus in Kentucky.
Three nursing home residents from around the state are among the 11 new COVID-19 deaths, according to Beshear, raising the total of nursing home deaths to 33. Of Kentucky’s new cases, 35 are residents of long-term care facilities, elevating the number of positive cases of the virus from those facilities to 217.
Tuesday’s new COVID-19 cases are in Jefferson, Kenton, Fayette, Jackson, Boone, Hopkins, Logan, Warren, Campbell, Graves, Bullitt, Spencer, Boyle, Butler, Christian, Daviess, Greenup, Laurel, McCreary, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Webster, Anderson, Barren, Boyd, Caldwell, Casey, Edmonson, Garrard, Grant, Hardin, Henderson, Jessamine, Larue, Leslie, Lincoln, Livingston, Lyon, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McCracken, Monroe, Russell, Shelby, Simpson, Todd, Wayne and Woodford counties.
(The governor either misspoke or was given inaccurate information when listing the counties the new cases arose from when he said “Corbin.” Corbin, of course, is a city, shared by Whitley and Knox counties.)
One of the newly diagnosed cases of the virus is a 21-month-old baby in Floyd County.
Drive-thru testing and PPEs
The state’s new drive-thru testing site in Frankfort conducted 178 coronavirus tests on Tuesday. The partnership between the state and Kroger will result in a new drive-thru testing site opening in Kenton County, in northern Kentucky, on Wednesday. An additional site is scheduled to be announced Thursday, according to Beshear.
The intent of the new, free, state-sponsored testing sites is to conduct 20,000 tests in five weeks.
Beshear and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack spoke Tuesday about the state’s need for personal protective equipment (PPE). The governor said the state currently has the following PPE:
4.2 million gloves
355,000 surgical masks
Over 153,000 face shields
37,000 gowns
Over 279,000 respirator masks (145,000 KN95 masks; 130,000 N95 masks)
Over 5,000 coveralls
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
