FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 11, 2020) – Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday updated Kentuckians on the state’s continuing efforts to fight the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in the commonwealth.
Earlier Tuesday, the Governor and First Lady Britainy Beshear were not feeling well and, out of an abundance of caution, were tested for COVID-19 to protect themselves and those around them. The test results for Gov. Beshear and his family came back negative for the coronavirus.
“I wanted to start by letting you know that both my family and I are OK. We’ve tested negative for COVID-19 after a real scare. And I want to thank everybody out there who sent their thoughts and their prayers,” the Governor said. “This morning, late in the morning, I started feeling bad with a lot of the symptoms that can suggest COVID-19. Because of that I immediately isolated and canceled events we had in the afternoon. A couple hours later, I was tested. And even the short wait that I had to endure gives me newfound empathy for those that are having to wait even a couple days to get their test results back, knowing that they may be separated from their family and wondering what their immediate future is going to be. So I’m going to continue to try to lead with this empathy and hopefully it makes me a better Governor in addressing this virus.”
Case Information
As of 4 p.m. Aug. 11, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 35,793 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 562 of which were newly reported Tuesday. Eighteen of the newly reported cases were from children ages 5 and younger, including an 18-day-old from Hardin County, a 1-month-old from Rowan County and a 3-month-old from Lincoln County.
Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear reported eight new deaths Tuesday, raising the total to 783 Kentuckians lost to the virus.
“This thing is real, it’s out there. We’ve got to make sure we’re doing everything we can to fight it,” the Governor said. “While my family ended up negative today, I know there are a lot of families out there that are positive. We send you our love, we want you to get better. We want to make sure we’re not spreading this to any other family that has to endure any of that hardship.”
The deaths reported Tuesday include an 86-year-old man from Grant County; a 79-year-old woman from Hopkins County; three women, ages 54, 65 and 84, and two men, ages 75 and 93, from Jefferson County; and a 60-year-old man from Ohio County.
As of Tuesday, there have been at least 711,017 coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky. The positivity rate currently stands at 5.87%.
“That is a number that is just too high to do a number of things we want to do,” Gov. Beshear said. “It means it’s just not safe at this moment to do a number of things that we’re working toward. But I’m committed, I’m committed to getting our kids back in school in a safe manner.”
At least 8,819 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.
For additional information, including up-to-date lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here. To see all recent daily reports, click here.
School Opening Guidance
On Monday, Gov. Beshear and administration officials, in consultation with Kentucky teachers and school administrators, announced new guidance asking schools to wait until Sept. 28 to begin in-person classes.
The Governor said the decision was driven by four factors: Kentucky’s cases being near a peak, an increase in infection rates among children across the U.S., the experience of school districts in other states and families continuing to travel to hotspots for vacations against the advice of health officials.
Restaurants and Bars Update
Also Monday, La Tasha Buckner, the Governor’s chief of staff and general counsel, offered an update on bars and restaurants operating in the commonwealth.
Buckner said a new order, effective today, allows bars to reopen and restaurants to increase their capacity. Both bars and restaurants can operate at 50% of capacity, as long as other guidance requiring social distancing, facial coverings and sanitation is followed.
Customers in both bars and restaurants will be required to remain in their seats, except when entering, leaving or using the restroom. In addition, bars and restaurants will be required to halt food and beverage service by 10 p.m. and close at 11 p.m. local time.
The full list of requirements is posted on the Healthy at Work website.
More Information
Read about other key updates, actions and information from Gov. Beshear and his administration at governor.ky.gov, kycovid19.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media accounts Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Kentuckians can also access translated COVID-19 information and daily summaries of the Governor’s news conference at teamkentuckytranslations.com.
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