Gov. Beshear on Friday reported over 300 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been diagnosed in Kentucky over the last 24 hours.
At his daily COVID-19 briefing, the governor said 331 new cases of the virus have been confirmed since Thursday afternoon. On Thursday, Beshear announced only 69 new cases in Kentucky, the result, he said, of a “federal backlog,” as he warned Kentuckians that Friday’s total would likely be elevated.
“Remember, due to a backlog in the data management system we use to report data to the federal government, today’s numbers include some cases that should have been reported yesterday,” Beshear said.
The new cases increase the state’s coronavirus total to 12,166 victims.
Officials also reported four new deaths, an 89-year-old woman from Fayette County, and three victims from Jefferson County: 54- and 79-year-old men and a 90-year-old woman.
The four newly reported deaths raise Kentucky’s death toll to 497 (4.1 percent fatality rate).
Jefferson County is the far and away leader in COVID-19 deaths in Kentucky, as the state’s most populous county, with about 770,000 residents, has had 175 (35.2 percent of the state’s deaths) virus-related fatalities. Kenton County is second in the state with 36 deaths.
Currently, there are 418 Kentuckians hospitalized with COVID-19, with 67 victims receiving treatment in ICU. To date, 2,418 (19.9 percent) people have been hospitalized, with 969 (8 percent) patients ever treated in intensive care.
At least 3,390 (27.9 percent) Kentuckians have recovered from the virus, while 315,058 tests have been administered.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
