Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear gave an update on COVID-19 in the state and tornado recovery efforts in western Kentucky Monday afternoon.
The governor says clean-up continues in those hard-hit communities, slowly but surely, and he reminded those whose homes and property were destroy or damaged by the December 10 and 11 tornadoes to get their FEMA claims in before the deadline of February 11.
He says public assistance, from temporary housing to relief funding, remain available for those in need of help.
Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack gave the COVID update, saying that the virus is still spreading rapidly throughout the state—there were 13,979 new cases on Saturday, along with 29 deaths, Sunday saw 11,648 cases, 22 deaths and then Monday saw a reported 3,912 and 22 newly reported deaths. Dr. Stack says the bulk of cases are undoubtedly the omicron variant—he says while most people seem to have mild cases that keep them out of the hospital, it hasn’t kept everyone out of the already strained system.
He says the biggest issue isn’t really lack of hospital beds, it’s lack of hospital staff to care for those. In good news, Dr. Stack says evidence is showing that we should start seeing a decline in cases within the next few weeks.
The positivity rate is now at 33.06 percent, another new record since the pandemic began, and the death toll is at 12,763.