Kentucky had its worst day for spread of COVID-19 and virus-related fatalities Tuesday as the commonwealth continues to experience exponential growth.
Governor Andy Beshear announced 4,151 new cases and 35 more deaths, both records. He also announced other records—461 more children with the virus, 1,777 hospitalized, 441 in an ICU, 241 on a ventilator and a positivity rate of 9.59 percent.
The governor also announced the death of a resident of the Western Kentucky Veterans Center in Hanson due to the virus, a first for that facility in Hopkins County.
Governor Beshear said it was simply a terrible day for Kentucky in regard to the pandemic.
He urged Kentuckians who haven’t been taking the virus seriously to begin taking steps necessary to slow the spread such as wearing a mask and avoiding crowds, reminding that there is light at the end of the tunnel with multiple vaccines coming soon.
Restaurants and bars remain closed to indoor dining for now, but the governor anticipates allowing them to reopen to reduced capacity as of December 14.
All nine Pennyrile counties and every western Kentucky county except Webster remain red on the state incidence rate map.
Tennessee gained 5,693 new cases and 36 more deaths. There are now 2,369 Tennesseans in a hospital with the coronavirus and the Volunteer State’s positivity rate is 15.17 percent.