COVID-19 continues to spike in the Commonwealth, and Governor Andy Beshear gave an update while the Kentucky legislature met in Frankfort Tuesday.
Governor Beshear says last week continued an unfortunate trend—it was the highest week for COVID-19 case growth in the entirety of the pandemic with 13,005 new cases reported across Saturday, Sunday and Monday, along with 60 new deaths.
He says hospitals continue to be hammered by COVID-19 patients, of which there are currently 2,353 individuals in the hospital with the virus, 661 in the ICU and 433 on a ventilator. Governor Beshear says they are providing what support they can to those facilities and urged everyone to get vaccinated if you haven’t already done so.
Speaking on the ongoing special session to tackle legislation dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Beshear says so far, they have had a very positive working relationship with legislators and he’s encouraged by a willingness to negotiate.
He expects that debate will undoubtedly become heated at times, particularly when tackling a mask mandate at indoor locations in the state—something he feels is an absolute necessity, but doesn’t appear to have much support in the General Assembly.
There were 2,356 new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday, with the positivity rate back up again, at 13.76 percent, and the death toll in the state is at 7,905.