Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear urged people to maintain strict health guidelines Monday, while reporting 543 new COVID-19 cases in the state.
That brings the overall total in the state to 73,158 since the pandemic began, and the positivity rate is to 4.69 percent, slightly down from Saturday, with the governor saying that all data continues to show evidence of another escalation of coronavirus in the state.
He says the mortality rate remains low, but new cases represent a number of Kentuckians that could lost their life to coronavirus. Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack says incident rates are also steadily climbing, with Christian County in the ‘orange’ category and Trigg and Tood in the ‘yellow’, and if the curve isn’t flattened soon, then many could move into the red.
Five more Kentuckians have died, putting the death toll in the Commonwealth at 1,214. The governor says his administration will be working closely with local governments to ramp up better mask wearing in businesses and other settings, to help slow the spread of the virus.
The Tennessee Department of Health reported 2,489 new cases there, and 20 new deaths. Montgomery County gained 57 cases, Robertson County added 13 and Stewart County saw five new cases.