Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced 1,312 new cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth Tuesday —the highest Tuesday number reported—and 16 new deaths.
That puts the overall total in the state at 89,544, and now the positivity rate is once again above five percent at 5.08. Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman pressed on the importance of being ‘healthy at home and work’, saying that the escalation is very concerning.
Governor Beshear says he and his family continue to test negative for COVID-19 while in quarantine—but he calls the overall coronavirus report very grim. He says they’re gearing up their hospital surge protocols, though he hopes it won’t come to that, in an effort to be prepared should hospitalizations spike.
With 16 more deaths, including an 89-year old man from Marshall, and a 76-year old man from Muhlenberg County, that brings the death toll in the state to 1,342. Governor Beshear says a new White House report shows that 70 percent of Kentucky counties have high levels of community spread of the virus. That report also lists Christian and Hopkins County as in the ‘orange’ zone.
The Tennessee Department of Health reported 1,508 new COVID-19 cases there and 30 new deaths—Montgomery County reported 25 new cases, Robertson County added 13 and Stewart County gained three.