Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear gave a brief update on COVID-19 Tuesday, with his next live update set to take place Thursday afternoon.
Kentucky gained 893 new cases of COVID-19, along with 11 new deaths and four backlogged deaths, putting the death toll at 5,814. Governor Beshear says vaccines continue to get to people who want them as fast as possible, with many places having plenty of available appointments up for grabs, including the Christian County Health Department.
He says the state is expected to get even more supply next week, including more Johnson and Johnson single shot doses.
The positivity rate remained steady from Monday to Tuesday at 2.93 percent—Kentucky once again broke a weekly vaccination record with 198,447 new Kentuckians receiving their first dose of the vaccine.
The governor signed multiple bills into law Tuesday afternoon dealing with public safety, including House Bill 472, which protects Kentucky children by extending the statute of limitations for misdemeanor sex offenses against children from five to 10 years, and Senate Bill 64, which targets online child predators and creates tougher penalties for those who use the internet to prey on minors, especially children 12 and younger.
He also vetoed three bills, including House Bill 312, which would have let the legislative branch not provide public records, and would make it the judge of what records it should produce with no ability for a citizen to appeal that decision to a judge.
The Tennessee Department of Health reported 1,459 new COVID-19 cases, along with 34 new deaths—the positivity rate in the Volunteer State jumped back up to 9.04 percent.