Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear gave an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in the state Monday, reporting 88 deaths from over the weekend.
He gave a break down of the number of cases and deaths from Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with 3,811 cases reported Saturday, along with 48 deaths, then 2,685 new cases on Sunday, with 23 new deaths and then Monday had 2,075 cases and 17 deaths. Governor Beshear says many of those deaths are trending younger than ever before, and the positivity rate did drop to 12.18 percent, which he calls better but still not good.
He says August was the worst month ever in the pandemic for Kentucky with the highest number of newly reported cases—he says they are watching the data closely to see if the numbers are starting to fall into a plateau.
Governor Beshear says Saturday was the worst day for hospitals reporting critical staffing shortages, and he reported there are currently 22 children in the hospital with COVID-19. The governor says they’ll begin announcing where individuals would be able to receive the monoclonal antibody treatments, but he cautions that there will not be enough to go around at first, so people should still get vaccinated.
There’s been a lot of questions about a possible booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine—as Moderna and Johnson and Johnson have not filed any information about a booster at this time—with Governor Beshear saying they’re watching developments closely with the intent to rollout the booster’s to those who want when and if they are approved by the FDA.