In a short update Thursday, Governor Andy Beshear announced 295 new cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth, which makes a second day of higher than usual numbers.
That puts the overall total since the pandemic began at 10,705 and the Governor says those numbers are higher than usual, but they are still monitoring the data to determine if this is a resurgence of cases.
Of those cases, 226 are ‘probable’, with 3,303 people recovered from the virus—approximately 262,714 individuals have been tested across the state so far, with testing capacity increasing each day. Governor Beshear says coronavirus has only emphasized the existing inequalities in the system, healthcare or otherwise.
He says COVID-19 continues to prove that it is still very much present and remains highly contagious, so people need to make sure they maintain health guidelines as they return to normal routines. Eight more Kentuckians have died, bringing the overall total of deaths in the state to 458.
Starting Monday, libraries, distilleries, aquariums, museums and some smaller forms of childcare will be reopening—most with limited capacities and other restrictions in place.
The Tennessee Department of Health is reporting 298 new cases there, putting that total at 25,120 and with 401 COVID-19 related deaths. Montgomery County gained three cases to 286, Robertson County gained seven cases to 523 and Stewart County remains at 13 cases.
Asked by a reporter about the statue of Fairview native and confederate president Jefferson Davis in the Capital rotunda, the governor said he’d support its removal.