Saying there’s “light at the end of the tunnel” toward a new normal, Governor Andy Beshear said some aspects of healthcare will likely be the first part of society to reopen when restrictions are relieved.
Elective medical procedures have been stopped for about a month to conserve personal protection equipment and to prevent spread of COVID-19 in Kentucky and Governor Beshear says that’s led to folks showing up at emergency rooms with other conditions that have deteriorated.
The governor says he doesn’t feel pressure from the president to open the economy faster than what would be safe, noting they will be following the phased in approach set out by the White House.
It will take more robust testing capability and 14 days of dropping case numbers for Kentucky to begin the first phase of reopening the economy.
The governor reported 206 new cases from Friday to Saturday, bringing the total to 2,707 since the pandemic began. There are seven additional deaths, bringing the total to 144. At least 1,174 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.
There’s good news locally, with no new cases of COVID-19 at Western State Hospital for the last two days. Twenty-seven staff members and 13 patients have tested positive during the pandemic and two patients have died.
Five more inmates have tested positive at the Green River Correctional Complex in Muhlenberg County.
Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander says long-term care facilities continue to be the biggest challenge and there is a task force addressing current issues and finding ways to prevent future outbreaks.
A total of 353 residents and 154 staff members have been infected and 46 of the state’s deaths have been in long-term care facilities.
Tennessee now has 6,762 total cases and 145 deaths. Montgomery County is up to 113 cases, Robertson has 105 and Stewart County remains at five cases.