FRANKFORT, Ky. — Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced more than 3,000 cases and shared more details on the state’s unemployment one-time relief payment program.
“This is the fourth-highest Tuesday, it’s higher than the last couple weeks, so we’re trying to determine where these numbers are going,” said Gov. Beshear. “We are sure that this is a surge caused by gatherings through the holidays, but there is a chance from what we are seeing in the data that while people gathered during the holidays, maybe now they’ve changed their behavior back to be being very careful. If that’s the case, hopefully, we’ll see a leveling off, but only the data over the next week is going to let us know.”
Gov. Beshear also expressed concerns Tuesday about the Kentucky House of Representatives moving forward with an impeachment petition even though it was filed by four individuals who have made threatening comments and organized extremist rallies, including those where heavily armed men hung the Governor in effigy and another held at the State Capitol last weekend.
Unemployment One-Time Relief Payment Program
Today, Gov. Beshear signed an executive order creating the Unemployment One-Time Relief Payment Program to be administered by the Office of Unemployment Insurance and funded by Coronavirus Relief Fund money for up to $48 million. The program will provide one-time supplemental payments to claimants:
- $400 to claimants under any OUI program who: (a) would otherwise have qualified for 2020 FEMA Lost Wages Assistance but their weekly benefit amount was below $100, and (b) who had an approved claim in November and December 2020 but a weekly benefit amount of less than $176. Approximately 25,000 Kentuckians are eligible for this payment; and
- $1,000 to claimants under any OUI program between March 4 and Oct. 31, 2020, with verified identities and no indication of fraud, but whose claims were not yet adjudicated and paid. Approximately 16,500 Kentuckians are eligible for this payment.
“For those who were able to file a claim, we want to help these people until we can get to their claims,” said Gov. Beshear. “And we want to help the people who were working regular, full-time jobs before this crisis but still didn’t make enough to qualify for Lost Wages Assistance when they lost their jobs.”
Case Information
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, Gov. Beshear reported the following COVID-19 numbers:
New cases today: 3,053
New deaths today: 22
Positivity rate: 12.23 percent
Total deaths: 2,944
Currently hospitalized: 1,733
Currently in ICU: 397
Currently on ventilator: 205
Top counties with the most positive cases today are Jefferson, Madison, Kenton, Fayette, Boone and Warren. Each of these counties reported 90 or more new cases; Jefferson County alone reported 368.
To see a list of those reported lost to the virus today, click here.
More Information
To view the full daily report, incidence rate map, information on testing locations, vaccines, contact tracing, school reports and guidance, guidance for health care providers and the White House Coronavirus Task Force reports for Kentucky and more, visit kycovid19.ky.gov.