There were 227 newly confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Kentucky announced Gov. Andy Beshear at his daily briefing on Wednesday.
The new cases increase Kentucky’s COVID-19 victim count to 7,080. Five new deaths were also reported, raising the state’s death toll to 326 (4.6 percent fatality rate) victims.
The deaths reported Wednesday include an 88-year-old woman from Adair County; three women, ages 73, 89 and 97, from Boone County; and a 74-year-old woman from Marshall County.
“Still five deaths to report today,” Beshear said. “These are five families that are going to need us. We need to light our houses up green tonight. We need to ring our bells at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. These are five families in communities that are going to be grieving. These are five Kentuckians taken from us by this virus and let’s make sure that we remember that they are more than simply an age and a county.”
At least 2,649 (37.4 percent) Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.
Currently, 377 COVID-19 patients are being treated in a hospital, with 1,835 (25.9 percent) victims ever being hospitalized with the virus. Officials said 784 (11.1 percent) people have received treatment in ICU, while 215 patients are currently in intensive care.
Beshear said 115,506 COVID-19 tests have been administered in Kentucky.
Warren County’s exploding numbers
Dr. Steven Stack, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, said Warren County, with a population of about 133,000, is experiencing the second highest rate of positive cases behind Jefferson County.
Warren County, as of Wednesday afternoon, had 703 confirmed cases of COVID-19, while Jefferson County, with a population of about 770,000, has 1,730 cases. Seventy new cases in Warren County were reported on Wednesday.
Dr. Stack said he was on a call with local and state health leaders on Wednesday where they discussed sending medical student volunteers to the area to assist.
“We are providing additional support to them,” Dr. Stack said. “And we will continue our dialogue and discussions with them to try to help them. I just want to emphasize: The disease is still out there. This is not the common cold; this is a bad actor. When it sets up in a community and starts to take hold, hospitals can get overrun.”
Beshear said the spate of cases in the Bowling Green area could foreshadow what the state will experience in the coming months.
“What we’re seeing in Warren County is what many think is our future. Getting this in control, plateaued overall in the state and having to monitor the state as a whole, but then having hot spots that can start growing and then can grow very significantly. Our hearts are with the residents of Warren County.”
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
