Gov. Beshear announces 880 new COVID cases, talks new COVID relief package

Kentucky was under 1,000 new COVID-19 cases again in Tuesday’s report and Governor Andy Beshear is excited about what might be possible with additional COVID relief money included in a package set to pass the U.S. House as soon as Wednesday.

The governor announced 880 new cases, 21 more deaths and the lowest positivity rate since September at 3.94 percent.

Hospitalizations are at 551, 147 COVID patients are in the ICU and 81 are on a ventilator.

About 850,000 Kentuckians—over a quarter of all adults—have been vaccinated and Governor Beshear says Kentucky set a record for vaccinations last week.

He says the number of vaccinations may level off a little in the next couple weeks as not as many Johnson and Johnson doses will come to Kentucky, but the pace should take off in late March to early April.

He calls the likely passage of the American Rescue Plan a “transformational moment” for Kentucky—which is set to receive $2.6 billion.  The state can use about $185 million of that money for infrastructure projects, including modernizing water systems and getting a broadband connection to more Kentuckians.

Those funds can also be used to help businesses and industries adversely impacted by the pandemic.

Approximately $307 million is going to non-metro cities and $866 million is going to counties.

South of the state line, Tennessee reported 1,338 new coronavirus cases and 32 more deaths Tuesday, bringing the Volunteer State’s death toll to 11,588. Hospitalizations fell by 35 to 678.