KY COVID-19 Update: Monday, Sept. 7
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 7, 2020) – Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday updated Kentuckians on the state's continuing efforts to fight the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).
"I hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day holiday weekend, and doing it as safely as possible," the Governor said. "On Labor Day, we celebrate the people who have worked so hard to make this state and country great – their work has made all our enterprises succeed and organized labor's fight for fair working conditions has elevated workers everywhere. This year more than ever, I'm thinking about all the nurses, doctors and other hospital support staffers and other frontline workers who have helped us during this pandemic. We also need to remember the thousands of teachers, administrators and others working to educate our children in these trying times. I hope you'll join me on this Labor Day in thanking all of the essential workers who are sacrificing for the common good. Remember, the best way to show people you care about them is to mask up, keep social distance, keep gatherings to 10 people or fewer and follow the other guidelines to keep us safe."
As of 2 p.m. Sept. 7, Gov. Beshear announced at least 53,064 cases in the commonwealth, 291 of which were newly reported Monday. Fifty-two of the newly reported cases were from children age 18 and younger, seven of which were ages 5 and under. The youngest was just 1 month old.
"We're seeing a dip in the number of newly reported cases today, as we often do on weekends," the Governor said. "Unfortunately we've set back-to-back records in the number of new coronavirus cases in just the last two weeks. We have to do better."
The Governor announced no new deaths on Monday, leaving the total at 996 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
"I'll take any day we're not announcing new deaths, but we know this is only due to less reporting because of the long holiday weekend," the Governor said. "We've lost nearly 1,000 of our fellow Kentuckians to this deadly virus. When we see rising cases like the last couple weeks, we know more deaths follow cases by a couple weeks. Let's recommit to seeing fewer cases and deaths here."
Due to limited reporting on Sundays and today's federal Labor Day holiday, some information will be delayed until Tuesday.
Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public Health, praised Kentuckians for their commitment to blunting further spread of the coronavirus.
"Citizens of our commonwealth are demonstrating this concern for others by wearing face coverings when going out in public, keeping a social distance of at least six feet and thorough hand-washing," Dr. Stack said. "What troubles me is what we might see in two or three weeks and beyond if people don't follow guidance, including limiting crowds to 10 people or under and congregating less frequently."
Dr. Stack referred to a report provided each week from the White House to each state and territory. The Aug. 30 document identified 14 "red" counties, where the highest number of new cases were observed. (The report, usually posted on Mondays, is delayed this week until Tuesday due to Labor Day).
"We need to look at the 106 other counties as 'smoldering,'" Dr. Stack said. "Just because we don't live, work or visit a red county doesn't mean we can let our guard down. All it takes is one event that brings a lot of people together to cause an outbreak and become a 'red' county. COVID-19 has a spectrum of impacts ranging from the inconvenience of quarantine to more severe consequences such as prolonged illness for many, hospitalization for some and death for the most vulnerable."
As of Monday, at least 927,819 tests had been administered. The COVID-19 testing positive rate, based on a seven-day rolling average, taking into account total positive tests reported by laboratories divided by total tests reported by labs, stood at 4.34%. The number of Kentuckians who are known to have recovered was at least 10,648.
Lexington COVID-19 Testing Sites: Sept. 6-13
Lexington COVID-19 Update for Tuesday, Sept 8