Gov. Andy Beshear reported a combined 608 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed in Kentucky on Friday and Saturday.
The state now has 11,287 confirmed cases of the virus after Beshear announced 289 new cases on Friday and 319 on Saturday. Of the cases reported Saturday, 65 percent were from Jefferson County, according to the governor, giving the commonwealth’s most populous county 3,043 cases of the virus (27 percent of the state’s total).
Warren County (pop. 133,000) has the second most infections in Kentucky with 1,112 confirmed cases of the virus.
The governor reported a combined 12 COVID-19-related deaths on Friday and Saturday, raising Kentucky’s death toll to 470 (4.2 percent fatality rate). One of Friday’s deaths was the state’s third long-term care facility worker to die from the virus.
Since Wednesday, Kentucky has had 1,168 COVID-19 cases confirmed, a four-day average of 292 per day. The surge in cases is likely due to a combination of increased testing (6,640 tests conducted on Saturday alone), and the onset of the state’s economy reopening. However, as mass protesting in Louisville and Lexington, as well as dozens of smaller protests held in cities around the state, enter its tenth day, it’s possible that people who contracted the virus during the earlier protests could begin being manifested in the daily COVID-19 numbers.
Beshear said 2,361 (20.9 percent) patients have ever been admitted to a hospital, with 495 victims currently receiving treatment in a hospital. To date, 958 (8.5 percent) people have been treated in intensive care, with 75 patients currently in ICU.
At least 3,344 (29.6 percent) victims have recovered from the virus, while 281,559 (6.4 percent of the population) tests have been administered.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
