As virus cases, hospitalizations and deaths tick back up, Beshear says holiday actions may determine who's around for next year's

Kentucky Health News graph; virus case numbers are based on unadjusted daily reports.

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

As Kentucky headed into another holiday with cases, hospitalizations and deaths from covid-19 trending slightly upward, Gov. Andy Beshear's parting message was upbeat but cautious.

“With the rest of the country on fire, with hospitalizations escalating in almost every other state, we are seeing a stabilization that is protecting the lives of our people, and we want to make sure we continue to plateau or even decrease cases as we move toward this vaccine,” Beshear said, referring to the shots he and other top officials got earlier in the day. 

“How we do Christmas and New Year’s, those celebrations, is gonna be critical to protecting as many Kentuckians as possible until we can get this vaccine disseminated,” the governor said. At the end of his last briefing until next week, he said, “How you handle Christmas and New Year’s may determine who’s around next Christmas and New Year’s.”

While the pandemic has hit a rough plateau in Kentucky, the state reported 3,057 new cases of the coronavirus Tuesday, pushing the seven-day rolling average upward for the second day in a row, to 2,803.

“Our numbers are high but pretty close to what we saw last week,” Beshear said. Last Tuesday's new-case number was 2,946.

At the other end of the disease process for some, Beshear reported 28 deaths, raising the state's 7-day and 14-day death means to new highs, 28.7 and 24.1.

As he usually does, Beshear urged Kentuckians to display green lights and ring bells in memory of the 2,440 Kentuckians who have died of Covid-19.

“You never know who’s listening; you may never know who will find a moment of help in them,” he said, adding that green lights and the sound of the bells may make survivors of Covid-19 victims realize that “even though we don’t see and get close, we are in this together.”

Norris Hardison, who served in the Army, was the first vet
at the center to get a shot. (Photo from governor's office)

As vaccinations at nursing homes and hospitals continued, the first were performed at the Thomson-Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore, one of four state facilities for vets, which has lost 34 residents to Covid-19.

The first was Norris Hardison, who was quoted in Beshear's press release: “I am not afraid. I want everyone to see me take it and know that it is safe. Every single person should get this vaccine. I have been talking to my family, and even my daughter, who is afraid of needles, is going to take it. It’s the best way to protect us all from this Covid virus, and I am just so happy that it’s finally here.”

Beshear said 90 vets and more than 100 employees at the center were vaccinated Tuesday, and the two homes in the east and west would be next, on Jan. 9, with the Radcliff home soon afterward. 

“This is a great step forward, but it’s gonna take time,” he said, noting that preventive measures will still be needed for months, and that even people who have been vaccinated may still catch the virus and spread it.

Kentucky's long-term care facilities have accounted for two-thirds of the state's Covid-19 deaths. Yesterday they reported 115 more cases of the virus among residents and 72 among staff, and the state attributed 18 more deaths of residents to Covid-19. There are 3,346  active cases in 408 facilities.

Beshear said it will take a few weeks, maybe all of January, before the state can move on to vaccinations of other groups. He said the state could easily set up a program for people 75 and over, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended, but it will be impossible to include at the same time all of the "essential workers" the CDC listed. He said he would probably have more information next week on that front.

The 28 Covid-19 fatalities reported Tuesday were a 91-year-old woman from Boyd County; two Calloway County women, 91 and 94; a Casey County man, 66; two women, 64 and 87, and a man, 71, from Daviess County; a Fleming County man, 67; a Graves County woman, 67; two women, 57 and 63, and two men, 58 and 83, from Henderson County; a Henry County man, 67; a Hopkins County man, 67; a Jackson County woman, 74; a woman, 53, and a man, 62, from Jefferson County; a Knott County man, 81; three Marion County women, 86, 94 and 96; two McCracken County men, 79 and 85; a woman, 87, and a man, 59, from Monroe County; a Perry County woman, 60; and a Todd County woman, 54.

In other coronavirus news Tuesday:

• Counties with more than 10 new cases were: Jefferson, 468; Warren, 136; Madison, 127; Fayette, 125; Kenton, 113; Christian, 105; Daviess, 89; Boone, 88; Laurel, 81; Pike, 61; Clay, 53; Campbell, 47; Henderson, 44; Knox, 43; Hardin, 42; Pulaski, 40; Wayne, 39; Lincoln, Logan and Oldham, 38; Barren and McCreary, 37; Bullitt, 36; Whitley, 32; Scott, 31; Hopkins and Simpson, 30; Grant and Nelson, 29; Boyle, 28; Jessamine, 27; Allen and Mercer, 26; Clinton, 25; Clark, Ohio and Taylor, 24; Carter and Harlan, 23; Graves, 22; Johnson, 21; Bath and Grayson, 20; Boyd Franklin and Muhlenberg, 19; Greenup and Monroe, 18; Calloway and McCracken, 17; Bourbon and Letcher, 16; Anderson and Perry, 15; Harrison and Montgomery, 14; Adair, Lewis and Trigg, 13; Estill, Marion, Marshall, Meade and Russell, 12; and Breathitt, Butler, Fleming, Jackson and Shelby, 11.
• Beshear said that while the pandemic relief bill passed by Congress doesn't include general budget relief he wanted, "It includes a lot of things that help us out, such as hundreds of millions of dollars for vaccines and distribution, testing and contact tracing. "That’s what we needed the very most."
• The bill gives states another year to spend money that they received from last spring's relief bill. Beshear said Kentucky will have $200 million to $250 million of that remaining on Dec. 31, the original spending deadline, but will use most of the money to pay off the loan it obtained for unemployment benefits.
• Kentucky has been one of the slowest states to deliver unemployment benefits. Beshear has blamed an avalanche of claims and a system not maintained by previous administrations. He said the state had received such differing guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor that the department's inspector general "has launched an investigation."
• Beshear said the next state budget needs money to improve that system and others. The Democratic governor said the Republican-heavy legislature will have to decide, in Depression-era terms, “whether this state is gonna be FDR or Herbert Hoover."