FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Gov. Andy Beshear announced in a press release Saturday that there are 825 new COVID-19 cases and three new coronavirus-related deaths in the state of Kentucky.
There were 145 newly reported cases of children age 18 and younger, with 15 being five years old or younger. Two among those age 5 and under were just eight months old.
Even though it’s not until next week, “now is the time to consider how you will celebrate Oaks, Derby and Labor Day in a way that allows you to share time with others while respecting the required masking and social distancing protocols,” said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public Health.
“As you may recall, as the number of new cases was leveling off months ago, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July resulted in celebrations and mingling. A noticeable spike in the number of positive COVID-19 cases followed. Then, the mask mandate went into effect and Kentuckians took extra care in social distancing and avoiding visits to other states known as ‘hot spots.’ This successfully plateaued our new weekly cases,” Dr. Stack said.
He cautioned, “If the running of the Oaks, the Kentucky Derby and Labor Day activities reflect other summer holidays, though, cases will spike again and Kentucky will have a setback to the progress we have made by working together. Please, let’s show we can learn from the other holidays. Let’s not slip and lose progress against our fight against the coronavirus.”
As of Saturday, at least 871,811 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 4.59%. The number of Kentuckians who have recovered stood at 10,328.
