Beech Tree News Network

Coronavirus cases in Kentucky spiked Friday, to levels not seen in two weeks, but Gov. Andy Beshear said it's too early to reach conclusions from that.

The state reported 283 new cases, more than double the average of the last two weeks, but the governor said "I don't want to suggest that it means something either way."

He said the jump may have been created by testing laboratories finally catching up from delays of the Memorial Day weekend. He said the average for the last four days was 158, which "is still a decline, and a significant decline from two weeks ago."

Beshear said the counties with more than five new cases were Jefferson, 62; Fayette, 41; Warren, 31; Gallatin, 18; Kenton, 17; Shelby, 16; Boone, 12; Logan, 11; Campbell, 10; and Allen and Franklin, seven each. Beshear said the Fayette cases appear to be driven by an outbreak at the federal prison there. The day's numbers brought the state's total to 9,464, at least 3,231 of whom have recovered.

The governor reported nine more deaths from covid-19, for a of total of 418. Six were in Butler County, which has the state's highest infection rate, 17.46 per 1,000 residents; they were three women, aged 70, 83 and 90; and three men, 51, 74 and 88. The others were a 55-year-old man in Oldham County and two men in Gallatin County, 64 and 68. Butler County was the site of a nursing-home outbreak and is near a meatpacking plant that also had one.

Beshear gave his daily report by race, which included the figure that 17.8 percent of Kentucky's deaths have been among African Americans, more than twice their 8.4% share of the state's population. He said those numbers and the civil unrest in Louisville over police actions reflected "the vestiges of slavery, segregation and Jim Crow . . . This pandemic we're facing has laid bare the inequities that still exist in our society and many times are fatal."

He said the march that included the shooting of seven people "started with a very peaceful protest" that was "one of the safest, one of the most compliant with CDC guidelines" for gatherings in the pandemic, but was disrupted by "a rogue element." Later, he said "There are groups out there that want to create a violent situation. Let's not let groups like these Three Percenters, these extremists, turn people against each other and create violence."

Health Secretary Eric Friedlander said the state has tested 15,000 residents and employees of long-term-care facilities, and expects to test 50,000 to 60.000. He said residents of personal-care homes are being tested as well as those in nursing homes.

Lexington's WKYT-TV reported that the 63-bed Parkside Manor personal-care home in Cynthiana has had 24 cases of the virus, including three staffers, and three residents are hospitalized. 

Beshear said 77 more residents and 27 more staffers had tested positive in long-term-care facilities, for respective totals of 1,285 and 600. They have had 244 deaths, including two staffers, accounting for 58.3 percent of the state's deaths. Fifteen deaths were added to the total yesterday, from previous daily reports.

The River’s Bend Retirement Community in Kuttawa, which had the first major outbreak among long-term-care facilities, reported that its three staff members and six residents who had tested positive have recovered, leaving no active cases remain at the facility, two residents of which died.

"Mass testing allowed us to detect, isolate, and stop the spread of the disease in our community. This early intervention was the key to ensuring the health and safety of everyone at our facility," River's Bend said in a press release. "While friends and family are not permitted to enter the facility to visit, we have set up ‘visitation stations’ outside for safe social interactions with residents."

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By Al Cross and Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

ABOUT KHN

Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.