FRANKFORT, Ky. — Today, Gov. Andy Beshear warned Kentuckians that at this time we face significant danger from COVID-19. Eighty counties are in the red zone as cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase rapidly. Monday’s positivity rate was the highest since May 5.
“If you’re not wearing a mask, you’re putting yourself at a real risk for contracting COVID,” said Gov. Beshear. “This is happening everywhere, which means we can’t bring in health care workers from other places. If everywhere is surging, we’re going to end up on our own. That means if we get overrun and we don’t have enough staff in hospitals, it’s our friends, our neighbors, maybe even our family members who won’t get the treatment they need.”
Community leaders, schools, businesses and families in red zone counties should follow reduction recommendations (school-specific recommendations here).
“We are clearly at the worst place we have been for this disease,” said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health. “It took us almost 15 weeks from the start of this pandemic in Kentucky just to get to the number of cases we had last week alone.”
Today, the Governor also highlighted positive progress in economic development and education.
First, to pioneer a new line of highly durable engineered hardwood flooring, AHF Products plans to invest $2.5 million and create 20 full-time jobs at its Somerset facility in Pulaski County early next year. For more information, see the full release.
Next, the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship, an effort to boost education and employability among adults, provides up to 60 hours of tuition for anyone who has not yet earned an associate degree in specific technical programs. The scholarship can begin covering tuition costs for more than 350 courses after federal, state and campus grants and scholarships are applied. Kentuckians can call 833-711-WRKS or visit https://workreadykentucky.com to receive assistance from advisors on how to enroll in the program. For more information, see the full release.
Earlier in the day, Gov. Beshear announced he is among the leaders in a coalition of 20 states who are defending the Affordable Care Act ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court hearing Tuesday that could decide the fate of coverage for people with preexisting conditions, Medicaid expansion and other key pieces of our health care system. As attorney general and now as governor, Gov. Beshear has fought to protect health care, including maintaining coverage for nearly 1.8 million Kentuckians with preexisting conditions. For more information, see the full release.
Case Information
As of 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, Gov. Beshear reported the following COVID-19 numbers:
- New cases today: 1,745
- New deaths today: 11
- Positivity rate: 7.49 percent
- Total deaths: 1,576
- Currently hospitalized: 1,133
- Currently in ICU: 300
- Currently on ventilator: 142
Top counties with the most positive cases today are: Jefferson, Fayette, Lee, Bell, Boone, Daviess and Kenton.
The new red zone counties for this week can be found here.
Those reported lost to the virus today include a 67-year-old man from Adair County; a 78-year-old woman and two men, ages 66 and 70, from Bullitt County; a 43-year-old woman from Fayette County; a 50-year-old woman from Graves County; a 73-year-old man from Green County; a 96-year-old woman from Hancock County; a 95-year-old woman and a 92-year-old man from Hardin County; and an 81-year-old woman from Jefferson County.
More Information
To view the full daily report, incidence rate map, testing locations, long-term-care and other congregate facilities update, school reports, the White House Coronavirus Task Force reports for Kentucky and other key guidance visit, kycovid19.ky.gov.