Virus case numbers keep falling, but reporting may have been limited; Covid-19 hospital cases, ICU and ventilator use are up

By Al Cross

Kentucky Health News

Some key measures of the pandemic in Kentucky continued to fall Tuesday, but it remains to be seen how much that has to do with testing labs being closed during Easter weekend.

The state reported 344 new cases of the novel coronavirus Tuesday, well under than half the number reported last Tuesday. That reduced the seven-day rolling average of new cases by almost 10 percent, to 538 per day. That is the lowest average since Aug. 11, almost eight months ago, but Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that it would be "hard to tell what's going on until Wednesday" because of lab closures.

The statewide rate of daily new cases in the last seven days fell to 9 per 100,000 residents. Counties with rates more than twice the state rate were Simpson, 48.5; Powell, 38.1; McCreary, 31.5; Whitley, 28; Morgan, 21.5; Allen, 20.8; Robertson, 20.3; Knox, 19.7; Floyd, 19.7; Lee, 19.3; Mason, 19.2; and Metcalfe, 18.4.

Counties with more than five new cases were Jefferson, 56; Christian, 22; Scott, 17; Carter, 16; Fayette, 12; Laurel, 11; Pulaski, 10; Harlan, 9; Boone, Floyd and Pike, 8; Hardin and McCreary, 7; and Daviess and McCracken, 6.

The percentage of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days stayed stable, at 2.89%, but hospital numbers were up.

Kentucky hospitals reported 376 Covid-19 patients, 23 more than Monday; 116 of them were in intensive care, 19 more than Monday; and 57 were on ventilators, 11 more than Monday.

The state added eight more deaths to its list of Covid-19 fatalities, four from regular health-department reports and four from the ongoing audit of death certificates. The state's death toll from the disease is 6,184.

Beshear's press release quoted him on one topic: vaccinations. “If you haven’t gotten your Covid-19 vaccine yet, look at our list of where you can get your shot of hope this week, at vaccinemap.ky.gov. If you’ve already been vaccinated, reach out to one friend or family member who is still trying to get signed up and see if you can help them. This is an all-hands-on-deck effort. We are in a race against harmful Covid-19 variants that could threaten the progress we’ve all sacrificed so much to achieve.”

President Biden asked Americans to wait until July 4 to resume normal activities, pointing to increasing case and hospitalization numbers in many states, especially among young adults. "We're still in a life and death race against this virus," he said. "The virus is spreading because we have too many people who see the end in sight and think we're at the finish line already. Let me tell you deadly seriously: We're not."

Unemployment insurance: Beshear announced that in-person services for unemployment benefits will open April 15 at more than a dozen regional sites, by appointment only. At 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 7, Kentuckians can begin scheduling appointments at kcc.ky.gov for weekday appointments April 15-30. The sites are in Ashland, Bowling Green, Covington, Elizabethtown, Hazard, Hopkinsville, Lexington, Louisville, Morehead, Owensboro, Paducah, Prestonsburg and Somerset.

A photo ID will be required to enter, and temperatures will be taken before entering. Anyone attending an appointment must wear a mask at all times. "Accommodations will not be made for those without appointments," a press release from Beshear's office said. "While staff make every effort to answer all questions during this appointment, UI specialists may not be able to provide a resolution during a single appointment. Some claims could require additional paperwork or take additional time to complete. An additional appointment will not be necessary."

In other pandemic news Tuesday:

• The regularly reported Covid-19 deaths were an Allen County man, 91, on April 4; a Boyle County woman, 83, Jan. 14; a Fayette County woman, 84, Dec. 20; a Hopkins County man, 79, March 31; a Jefferson County woman, 63, April 3; a Laurel County woman, 80, April 1; and a Warren County woman, 92, Dec. 2.
• The Covid-19 deaths found by audit were a Greenup County woman, 83, on Nov. 20; a Jefferson County woman, 82, on Nov. 11; three Jefferson County men: 71, on Nov. 18; 89, on Dec. 18; 91, on Dec. 18; and a Wayne County woman, 79, on Jan. 1.
• Indiana ended its mask mandate, but kept face coverings mandatory in state buildings and schools and allowed local governments, private businesses and other entities to have stricter guidelines.
• Youth sports leagues may be driving outbreaks of the more contagious B.1.1.7 strain of the virus first identified in the United Kingdom, The Washington Post reports, citing outbreaks in Nevada and near Minneapolis. “Until now we haven’t seen transmission like this in kids in the pandemic,” said infectious-disease specialist Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota.
• "Nearly half of new coronavirus infections in the United States are in just five states — a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hot spots," CNN and The Associated Press report. "New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44%" of new cases in the last week.
• "You won’t remember the pandemic the way you think you will" is the title of a story by Melissa Fay Greene in The Atlantic, which says, "The stories you hold on to will be colored by your own experience—but also by the experiences of those around you."

State reports 49 more deaths from Covid-19; January is on track to be the most deadly month for the disease in Kentucky

Kentucky Health News graph; new-case data is from initial, unadjusted daily reports.

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear and his health commissioner have long said Covid-19 deaths are a lagging indicator of cases, and Wednesday's report of 49 more deaths, the fourth highest on one day, is certainly an indication of that. 

Kentucky saw its highest number of new coronavirus cases in November and December, 71,822 and 90,340 respectively. It saw its highest number of deaths in December, 754, and January has already gained the distinction of second highest, with 581 deaths, with more than a third of the month left.

Of the 49 deaths reported Wednesday, 42 were confirmed and seven were probable. That brings the state's death toll to 3,243. A better indicator of this measure are the averages, since Covid-19 deaths are reported many days after they occur. The averages tell a similar story; over the last seven days, the state has averaged 36 deaths per day, and the 14-day average is 31.2, both records. 

Beshear chose to focus on the positive, noting that at 11.29 percent, this is the fifth day in a row that the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus over the last seven days has stayed below 12%. 

“While there is still so much pain and darkness in our commonwealth due to this pandemic, we are beginning to see the light ahead of us,” he said in a release. “This plateauing positivity rate is great news for Kentucky, especially as we continue to bring more of these live-saving vaccines to our people each week.”

Other good news is that Wednesday's report of 3,433 new cases lowered the seven-day rolling average to 3,025 -- down for the ninth consecutive day and a little bit below where it was on Jan. 6 (3,063), the day the new-case record was set (5,742).  That was also a Wednesday; on the intervening Wednesday, there were 4,560 new cases.

The daily vaccine report shows the state has received 444,325 doses and has administered 232,127, but only 39,361 in long-term-care facilities, where shots are being given by CVS Health and Walgreens under a federal contract.

Kentucky hospitals reported 1,678 Covid-19 patients, just below the 14-day average of 1,681. Of those, 399 are in intensive care, a little below the recent weekly, bi-weekly and monthly averages. and 205 are on a ventilators, a number that has remained fairly flat for several days. 

Two hospital readiness regions are using more than 80% of bed capacity in their intensive-care units: the east region, 89%; and Lake Cumberland, 98%. The northern region is using 80.2% of its overall capacity.

Counties averaging at least 100 new cases per 100,000 residents per day over the past seven days were Morgan County, at 254.4 per 100,000; Oldham, 201.2; Hancock, 103.2; Clinton, 102.1; and Campbell, 100.9. The overall state rate is 64.09. Morgan and Oldham have virus outbreaks at state prisons.

In other coronavirus news Wednesday:

• Counties with 10 or more cases were Jefferson, 436; Fayette, 218; Kenton, 208; Boone, 177; Warren, 129; Daviess, 121; Campbell, 101; Madison, 99; Hardin, 92; Laurel, 79; Christian, 67; Henderson, 61; Bullitt and Jessamine, 55; Pike and Scott, 50; Oldham and Whitley, 49; Boyd, 47; Nelson, 43; Graves and McCracken, 37; Clark, 36; Shelby, 34; Barren, 32; Calloway, Harlan and Rowan, 30; Boyle and Franklin, 29; Butler and Mason, 28; Hopkins, 27; Hart, Lincoln, Meade, Mercer and Taylor, 25; Bell and Grant, 24; Logan and Pulaski, 23; Simpson, 22; Floyd and Knox, 21; Anderson and Carter, 19; Allen, 17; Marion, Rockcastle and Woodford, 16; Garrard, 15; Clay and Morgan, 14; Casey and Ohio, 13; Breathitt, Grayson, Henry, Pendleton and Perry, 12; Caldwell and Harrison, 11; Estill, Hancock, Lawrence, McLean, Monroe and Union, 10.
• The 49 fatalities were an Adair County woman, 68; an Adair County man, 81; two Anderson County women, 84 and 86; an Anderson County man, 85; a Barren County woman, 69; a Boyle County woman and man, 70 and 79; a Calloway County woman, 69; two Christian County men, 86 and 89; a Clay County woman, 69; a Crittenden County man, 72; a Fayette County woman, 90; a Gallatin County woman, 92; a Graves County man, 75; two Harlan County women, 54 and 76; four Harlan County men, 69, 70, 80 and 85; a Hart County woman, 82; a Hopkins County woman, 99; two Hopkins County men, 65 and 68; a Jefferson County woman, 102; two Jefferson County men, 74 and 93; a Lincoln County man, 75; a Madison County woman and man, 79 and 66; three Marshall County women, 63, 64 and 84; a Pulaski County woman and man, 77 and 70; a Robertson County woman, 85; a Rowan County woman and man, 55 and 80; a Shelby County man, 86; a Taylor County man, 86; a Todd County man, 62; a Trimble County man, 86; three Warren County women, 58, 73 and 85; and a Wayne County woman and man, 100 and 89.
• The B117 variant of the virus, first identified in the United Kingdom, could become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fears. That could be devastating for already overwhelmed hospitals, Stat reports.
• After a heated debate, Jefferson County School Board voted 5-2 to begin winter sports, Jess Clark reports for WFPL. Board members said their parents, coaches and community members were urging them to do so, but one of the two members who voted no, Chris Kolb, reminded them of the county's high and growing infection rates; the fact that winter sports are played indoors, where the virus spreads more easily; and of warnings from the state's health commissioner that more contacts lead to more infection and more death. In voting yes, James Craig said, "I remain so so frustrated that we’re asking them to sacrifice when no one else in the community is willing to make the same sacrifice." 
• Researchers with the University of Louisville's Co-Immunity Project, which tracks the virus in Louisville's wastewater, "continues to show Covid-19 is in all of Louisville's communities," U of L Professor Tamara Sluss told the Louisville Courier Journal, saying it could be of particular use for tracking effectiveness of vaccine distribution.
• Some researchers are now looking at Louisville streams to see if the city's surface water shows signs of the virus. While their findings don't appear to show a risk of the virus from waterways, when found it does indicate an aging sewer system that lets remnants of human waste flow into it, the CJ's Mary Ramsey reports. 
• The Kentucky Nurses Association said retired nurses have been calling and e-mailing to see if they can help administer the vaccine, WKYT reports. Already at Baptist Health Corbin, 11 nurses have come out of retirement to work at a vaccination center.  
• Kaiser Health News examines the challenges of Covid-19 patients trying to get access to the highly touted Covid antibody treatments, which are most effective if given early in the illness, within 10 days of a positive test. JoNel Aleccia reports that so far, only about 30% of the available doses have been administered to patients, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Click here to find a list of locations in Kentucky that have received the monoclonal antibody product.
  

In the past week, Ky. has had the most new coronavirus cases yet; share of Kentuckians testing positive jumps again, to 7.24%

Map, relabeled by Kentucky Health News, shows rates over last seven days. Click it to enlarge.

By Al Cross

Kentucky Health News

Kentucky reported 1,177 new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, less than the last two Sundays but enough to make the state's Monday-to-Sunday reporting week the most infectious yet.

Meanwhile, the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days rose again, to 7.24 percent, the highest since early May, when numbers were high because testing wasn't widely available.

That means Kentuckians, especially those in high-infection "red zone" counties, must follow the state's recommendations to reduce the spread of the virus, Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press release. The 80 counties that were in the red zone on Thursday, Nov. 5 should follow the recommendations Monday through Sunday, Nov. 9-15, state officials said.

“This virus is spreading in communities in every corner of the commonwealth, and everyone, from our businesses and schools to individuals, must do their part to stop the spread and save lives,” Beshear said. “Without each of us doing our part, the rampant spread will continue to take more Kentuckians. Let’s come together as Team Kentucky to defeat this virus.”

New-case numbers are typically low on Sundays due to limited testing and reporting on weekends. The 1,177 cases reported Sunday made the seven-day rolling average of new cases 1,774. That is about double what it was four weeks ago and about triple what it was eight weeks ago.

The unadjusted daily reports in the reporting week totaled 12,421; the previous week's unadjusted figure figure was 11,774.

Health Commissioner Steven Stack said in the release, “With colder outdoor temperatures just around the corner, I encourage you to get outside and enjoy the great weather while it lasts. . . . The more we have contact with each other, the more transmission we’re going to see. So please avoid social gatherings, maintain a social distance of at least six feet, wear a mask and wash your hands thoroughly. Now is not the time to let your guard down. We must maintain our vigilance.”

Hospital numbers declined slightly. Kentucky hospitals had 1,102 covid-19 patients, 279 of them in intensive care and 148 of those on ventilators.

The state reported four more deaths from covid-19: two 92-year-old men and a 77-year-old man from Hardin County, and a 76-year-old man from Marion County. They brought the state's death toll from the disease to 1,565.

Counties with more than 10 new cases were: Jefferson, 223; Fayette, 99; Pike, 82; Kenton, 60; Bell, 46; Boone, 42; Warren, 41; McCracken, 35; Bullitt, 31; Elliott, 29; Nelson, 29; Campbell, 28; Graves, 24; Daviess, 20; Christian, 16; Oldham, 16; Boyd, Franklin, Greenup and Hardin, 14 each; Henderson, 13; Calloway, Madison and Rowan, 12 each; and Monroe, 11.

In other coronavirus news:

• Kentucky's surge is part of a national surge. On Saturday, the nation reported a record number of cases in one day: 126,742.
• President-elect Joe Biden "has ambitious plans to curb the coronavirus, but they could face big hurdles in a divided country and Congress," The Washington Post reports. "His first order of business will be to call Republican and Democratic governors to urge them to adopt mask mandates and communicate the importance of social distancing."
  
• The Army general planning the distribution of 300 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, the equipment to administer them, and the dry ice needed to keep them at 94 degrees below zero, told David Martin of CBS that his biggest worry is that “We get vaccines to the American people and they don’t take ‘em . . . It does keep me up at night.” The New Jersey health commissioner said she surveyed 2,000 doctors and nurses and only 60% and 40%, respectively, said they would take a vaccine.
• The Kentucky High School Athletic Association delayed its football playoffs one week "to provide schools and school systems time to review their situations and work with their health departments to determine the best course of action," it said. "The first round of the playoffs will now take place the weekend of Nov. 19-21 with no additional planned changes in the playoff structure at this point in time."
• Maggie Menderski of the Courier Journal writes about the people in the state' health cabinet's Complaint Review Branch who answer emails sent to the KYcovid19@ky.gov address: "They're genuinely running a complaint department in a year where seemingly everyone is hurting and in theory, everyone has the right to complain. And the problems that come across their desks? They're heartbreaking because the pandemic has disrupted so many lives. The manager of the operation, Sherry Carnahan, told her, "People are more desperate. We get the calls and the tears that people are living in their cars. You have parents crying that they’ve lost their job, they're going to lose their home, they can’t feed their kids."

Emailing KYcovid19@ky.gov gets you these folks. (Photo by James Crisp via CJ)

2nd highest number of new virus cases; week already deadliest, with a day to go; Beshear says his experience shows masks work

State health department map, relabeled by Kentucky Health News; for a larger version, click it.
Lee County is blank, but had many new cases this week, many at a nursing home; see below.

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

Kentucky recorded 1,457 new cases of the novel coronavirus Friday, the second highest daily total, exceeded only by 1,487 on Wednesday. That pushed the seven-day rolling average to 1,191, the highest yet, and 29 above yesterday, the previous record. 

“This week has been a tough week, with three out of the five highest days,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a news release. “This virus is everywhere. It is in your community. We need every community doing what it takes to defeat it.”

Beshear reported 16 more deaths from covid-19 on Friday, bringing the state's death toll to 1,396. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that even with one day left in the week, Kentucky has already had 84 covid-19 deaths, surpassing its highest previous weekly toll, 72 between Aug. 30 and Sept. 5. 

The fatalities were a 69-year-old woman from Boyd County; two women, 77 and 84, from Daviess County; a 71-year-old woman from Fayette County; three women, 84, 101 and 102, and three men, 73, 76 and 84, from Jefferson County; a 64-year-old man from Knott County; an 87-year-old woman from Lee County; an 84-year-old woman from Leslie County; a 75-year-old woman from Logan County; an 86-year-old woman from Marshall County; and an 80-year-old man from Todd County.

The release said a record 818 people were hospitalized in Kentucky for covid-19 on Friday, up 18 from Thursday; 205 are in intensive care, nine fewer than Thursday; and 97 are on a ventilator, eight fewer than Thursday.  

The share of people testing positive for the virus in the past seven days continued to inch up, to 5.34 percent.

Beshear and his family will finish their two week quarantine on Saturday after being potentially exposed to the virus on Oct. 10 by a member of their security detail who tested positive for the virus, the release said.

“Wear a mask. It saves lives. I’ve now tested negative four straight times after sitting in the passenger seat next to someone driving who was infectious with covid,” Beshear said. “I was wearing a mask. He was wearing a mask. That shows you that it works.”

In other covid-19 news Friday: 

• Counties with 10 or more new cases Friday are Jefferson, 312; Fayette, 112; Warren, 60;  Hardin, 47;  Barren, 35; Daviess and Lee, 27 each; Hart, 26; Pike, 25; McCracken, 24;  Kenton and Madison, 22 each; Boone, 21; Clay, Laurel, and Nelson, 20 each; Scott and Shelby, 19 each; Henderson, Montgomery, Perry, and Whitley 17 each; Bullitt and Christian, 16 each; Campbell and Floyd, 15 each; Clark, Logan and Martin, 14 each;  Bell and Hopkins, 13 each; Johnson and Marion, 12 each; Boyd, Franklin, Jessamine, Knott and Oldham, 11 each; Adair, Calloway, Fleming, Marshall, McLean and Wayne, 10 each.
• The Lee County Care & Rehabilitation Center is reporting 128 cases of the virus, involving 75 residents and 53 staff, Hazard's WYMT reports. “A person can be asymptomatic -- they can contract the virus and not show any symptoms, like a fever, which allows them to pass health screenings at work.” said Scott Lockard, the district public-health director. “This is by far the biggest outbreak in the Kentucky River District and we have seen some bigger outbreaks in nursing homes across the state, but this is the event that we have feared that would happen the most.”
• In long-term care facilities, 35 more residents and 73 more staff have tested positive for the virus, with 941 active resident cases and 567 active staff cases reported. The facilities have seen 827 residents and six staff die of covid-19. 
• The K-12 school dashboard shows 366 students and 202 staff tested positive for the virus this week, resulting in 3,080 students and 532 staff being quarantined. 
• The college and university report shows 301 more students have tested positive, 499 of them in the past 14 days. Eight staff and faculty tested positive in the past 14 days. 
• "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the U.S. -- the first and only approved covid-19 treatment as of yet," the Herald-Leader reports in an article headlined "Coronavirus weekly need to know: remdesivir, air filters, national lockdown & more." 
• Grace Schneider and Deborah Yetter of the Courier Journal write about "pandemic fatigue" that is resulting in a surge of cases. They write that public-health messaging and practices known to slow the spread of the virus, like social distancing and wearing a mask, are not resonating with worn-out Kentuckians, especially at a time when President Donald Trump is telling his rally-goers that "we are rounding the turn" on the pandemic -- even though that is not true. Click here for a Kentucky Health News story about pandemic fatigue and how to overcome it.
• Schneider and Yetter report that pandemic fatigue is also wearing down doctors and nurses. Donald Lloyd, chief executive at St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, which serves five counties and is a regional testing site, told the CJ that the hospital had recently hired additional emergency room doctors and travel nurses to spell staffers who are beyond exhausted, especially those working in the three virus “hot spots” inside the 149-bed facility.  
• Jefferson County high-school sports, after a delayed start, have been suspended because of a rise in local virus cases, WDRB reports. Jefferson County moved to the most dangerous "red zone" this week, which under state guidance requires schools to assess whether they will hold classes or sporting events in the following week. Following the guidance, JCPS will: Allow contests this weekend and those such as volleyball that are already under postseason jurisdiction; follow the state high-school athletic association's guidance that allows practice, but no games or game-like simulations for teams not already in postseason play; reschedule regular-season contests planned for next week, when possible; and review the data again on Thursday evening and make another determination about athletics next Friday morning.

With cases over 1,250 second day in a row, Beshear sees 'most serious' surge and 'time when we either succeed or begin to fail'

Kentucky Health News graph, based on state's unadjusted daily case numbers,
does not include 1,472 backlogged Fayette County cases recorded on Oct. 7.

By Lisa Gillespie

Kentucky Health News

For the second straight day, Gov. Andy Beshear announced more than 1,250 cases of the novel coronavirus, calling it "the most serious" of three escalations during the pandemic and using some of his strongest language yet, pleading with Kentuckians to wear masks and keep their distance. 

“This is a time when we either succeed or begin to fail,” Beshear said. “I’m begging you. If we don’t do what it takes now, that level [of cases] will be way too high moving into the winter. Today’s report is an example of that.”

The state recorded 1,260 new cases on Thursday, after a record 1,346 Wednesday. The new seven-day rolling average of daily new cases is 991, another record.

“Everybody ought to be concerned and doing the right thing,” Beshear said. “Let’s push the complacency out and get the urgency back in.”

The governor also reported a rise in covid-19 hospitalizations: 738 people are in hospital with the disease in Kentucky, with 192 of those in intensive care. 

“While we still have capacity in our health-care system, we are seeing an increase in hospitalizations, and an increase in the ICU,” Beshear said. “Sadly, if we continue to have this amount of cases we will have an increase in deaths.” 

There was other bad news. The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days was 4.94%, which Beshear said was the highest in about a month, and he reported 20 more covid-19 deaths, one of the highest daily totals yet, raising the state's toll to 1,296.

The fatalities were an 86-year-old man from Bracken County; a 71-year-old woman from Christian County; four women, 82, 88, 92 and 100, from Daviess County; two women, 74 and 96, from Greenup County; a 74-year-old man and two women, 92 and 97, and from Henderson County; a 64-year-old man and two women, 49 and 84, from Jefferson County; an 88-year-old woman from Knott County; an 80-year-old man from Pulaski County; a 72-year-old woman from Scott County; an 81-year-old man from Webster County; and an 85-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man from Whitley County.

Beshear also admonished people who resist efforts of local health-department employees to get people to wear masks and keep their distance. “People refuse. Sometimes they laugh at them. Sometimes they yell at them,” he said. “It’s time for better compliance.”

Covid-19 and the flu: Health Commissioner Steven Stack emphasized that covid-19 is more severe than influenza in many cases, and its long-term health effects are still unknown. The difference should cause Kentuckians to take measures like wearing masks seriously, he said.

For many, covid-19 is totally different from the flu. “People can seem to be stable, and then about eight or nine or 10 days into the illness, [they] just suddenly and severely decline,” Stack said. “You're really not out of the woods until you're a couple weeks after the beginning of this infection.” 

Also, emerging research has found that patients have prolonged heart problems that can continue to cause issues weeks or months after the initial illness.

Vaccine trials: Beshear commented on three recent vaccine trials that were put on hold because study volunteers experienced adverse side effects. Scientists have said the news is actually positive and shows that drug companies are doing what they should be in pausing trials when there are safety concerns. Beshear echoed that sentiment.

“We shouldn't take too much out of two of these trials being momentarily stalled because that happens,” Beshear said. “Effective vaccines have had to go through that same pause.”

In other coronavirus news Thursday:

• Counties with more than 10 new cases were Jefferson, 230; Fayette, 164; Warren, 49; Hardin, Hopkins and McCracken, 27 each; Kenton, 24; Knox, 23; Knott, 22; Pike, 21; Bullitt, Calloway and Christian, 20 each; Campbell, Clay, Henderson, Laurel and Nelson, 19 each; Boone, 17; Muhlenberg, 17; Scott, 16; LaRue, 15; Hart, 14; Madison, 14; Barren, 13; Daviess. 13; Marshall. 12; and Boyle, Greenup, Logan and Taylor, 11 each.
• In long-term care, 55 more residents and 56 new staffers tested positive for the virus, making for active cases among 867 residents and 587 staff, says the state's long-term-care report. There have been 779 resident deaths and five staff deaths.
• The state's college and university report shows 496 students and five employees tested positive in the past 14 days.
• The K-12 schools report shows 416 students and 208 employees tested positive in the last 14 days. 
• A second school employee died of covid-19 "as Fayette County is trying to facilitate a limited return to in-person learning in the next few weeks," reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader. Ruthie Martinez was a permanent substitute teacher at Winburn Middle School. A bus driver died earlier.
• The Big Ten and Big 12 college conferences proceeded with plans to play football, after initially calling off the season. "This is the riskiest rill of the dice we have ever seen in college life, not just college sports," USA Today columnist Christine Brennan told CNN, adding that universities are doing it for the money.
• A warning for basketball: A study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the risk of spreading the virus through indoor sporting events that involve deep respiration. Researchers studied a June outbreak among players at recreational hockey game in Florida, involving men aged 19 to 53; of the 22 players, 13 tested positive.
• ProPublica reports how the CDC, "the world’s greatest public health organization, was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus." The story's first example: Vice President Pence's office ordered the agency to not advise churches to stop or at least reduce choral singing, and it obeyed.
• More from the report: “Interviews and documents show an insular, rigorous agency colliding head-on with an administration desperate to preserve the impression that it had the pandemic under control … The most heated disputes involved an HHS mental-health office that emphasized the role of schools as integral to the psychological well-being of children. … In August, the White House crafted new guidance from Trump. Titled ‘SCHOOLS SHOULD SAFELY REOPEN,’ it contradicted the CDC recommendations. … The CDC objected, but the White House published it anyway."

Fleming County football game stopped for lack of masks on fans

Fleming County (Wikipedia map)

A middle-school football game in Fleming County was interrupted Thursday night because spectators were not wearing masks and keeping six feet apart.

Supt. Brian Creasman said tonight's high-school game won't start until everyone in the stands is wearing a mask. He told WKYT that about half the fans at the Simons Middle School game were not masked.

Juilian Tackett, commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, told Kentucky Health News that there have been several such cases, but he wasn't sure how many, because schools are not required to report them. He said most involve lack of distancing.

Tackett told WKYT that the schools that are struggling with pandemic requirements are those that are allowing crowds larger than those the KHSAA recommended.

He said the problems are caused mostly by adults. "They've got to understand that this is not political and they don't have a choice," he said. "Athletics is a privilege, not a right."

Beshear to step up enforcement of mask mandate, says more would obey it if Trump wore one; criticizes the president's tweet

State Department for Public Health graph, relabeled by Kentucky Health News

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

In response to an escalation in coronavirus case numbers, Gov. Andy Beshear and his health commissioner escalated their pleas for Kentuckians to stop it. 

"If current trends continue it will be a difficult fall and a difficult winter, but I believe that we have the opportunity to improve our situation," Beshear said at his daily briefing. "One of the big ways we do that is wearing a mask."  

Later, he mixed the practical with the philosophical: "Now's our test, a test of values, a test of faith. Are we willing to live for other people? Wearing a mask is inconvenient at most. Are we willing to accept inconvenience to protect life, to protect our economy and to get our kids in school? That's our choice.

"Or are we willing to say that we shouldn't have to go through any inconvenience and because we don't see people suffering from covid because they're either in their home or in the hospital. that we're not going to respond appropriately?" 

Beshear announced 543 new cases of the coronavirus, high for a Monday, reflecting less lab activity on weekends. That brought the seven-day average of unadjusted daily cases up to 915, a record. The average of the week that ended Sunday, after removal of duplicate results, was 875. 

Kentucky has seen a weekly increase in cases since Sept. 7, with a huge jump last week to 6,126, the highest weekly case count yet, up from 4,949 the week before. 

"We are clearly now in an escalation, there is no doubt about it," Health Commissioner Steven Stack said. 

"This is scary," he said, because unlike the April spike that the state was able to flatten, this one is starting so high that it could increase quickly, like what happened in New York, Florida, Arizona, and Texas. 

"I think that one of the tragedies that plays into this is this is something that is at least theoretically within our control, if we choose different behaviors," said Stack, a physician. 

Beshear was asked several times what he planned to do about the escalation. He said he was stepping up enforcement of his mask mandate and will ask mayors and county judge-executives to  help enforce it – but suggested that their help might be as spotty as compliance with the mandate: "After seeing this escalation, I hope they're on board too." 

The governor said every government official must do something if they see anyone not following the rules, and businesses must refuse service to people violating the mask mandate: "We need to make sure that everybody out there is getting back to the place where in your business you cannot check somebody out if they're not wearing a mask; it shouldn't matter who they are."

He added later, "If it is in our power to get better adherence, we're gonna do it." He called on local health departments to fine bars and restaurants if they are not following the 50% capacity rules, instead of merely educating them about the rules and the reasons for them. He also noted that the state Labor Cabinet and Alcoholic Beverage Control agents could help enforce the rules. 

He added that if the escalation continues, the White House Coronavirus Task Force will make new recommendations that he will strongly consider. The task force's weekly report, usually posted on Mondays, was still pending at 10 p.m. 

Health department map, relabeled by Kentucky Health News

Stack said the state's incidence-rate map, which shows infections in the last seven days, "is about as ugly as it has looked" and it will get much worse if the trend continues. The Oct. 5 map shows 21 counties in the red, meaning they have at least 25 cases per 100,000 people. 

He then displayed a graph comparing U.S. coronavirus cases and deaths with Canada, Germany and New Zealand. They showed the U.S. has 22,000 cases per million people, compared to about 4,000 in Canada and Germany and hardly any in isolated New Zealand. The U.S. death rate is three and one-half times higher than Canada, six and a half times higher than Germany and 650 times worse than New Zealand, the world's most isolated urbanized democracy.

"Other democracies have figured this out," said Stack. "Tragically, the United States of America has not. Our nation, for its many wonderful attributes, unfortunately, is a spectacular failure in this regard. Our results for this disease management are really embarrassing, quite frankly. And we should be humiliated as a country that we haven't been able to come together better to get this done well." 

Stack noted a newly published study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that one 13-year-old was the source of a coronavirus outbreak at a three-week family gathering, infecting 11 of 14 people who attended, but six people who attended for a short time, while practicing social distancing outside and wearing a mask while inside, were not infected.

He said it resembled the current situation at the White House, where the Rose Garden event President Trump held to introduce his Supreme Court nominee appears to have been a source of infection, perhaps even Trump's.

Beshear, asked if he approved of how Trump had managed his illness, said it was good that he had made public his diagnosis and had sought medical care, but shouldn't have violated quarantine and needs to wear a mask.

"I've been begging for months to have this president wear a mask in public. I sure hope that we will see that now every day, all the time, when he's not up speaking and can put it on and and take it off," Beshear said, adding that many people who aren't wearing masks "will start if the president will, and that's a way to protect a lot of people out there." 

After returning to the White House this evening after spending three days at Walter Reed Medical Center, Trump went to the Truman Balcony and took off his mask. 

Asked about Trump's tweet that said, "Don't be afraid of covid. Don't let it dominate your life," Beshear said the second point is correct, but "We need to have a healthy fear of a pandemic that's killed twelve hundred Kentuckians . . . If we don't, other people pay the price."

Beshear announced five more covid-19 deaths, bringing the state's death toll to 1,214: a 69-year-old man from Boyd County; an 85-year-old man and two women, 91 and 99, from Daviess County; and a 71-year-old man from Robertson, the state's smallest county.

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the novel coronavirus in the past seven days is 4.68%, a bit above the seven-day averages of the past week.

In other covid-19 news Monday: 

• Of today's cases, 69 were 18 and under, and nine of those were 5 and under, the news release from Beshear's office said. 
• The state's daily report says 563 people are hospitalized with covid-19 in Kentucky and 145 of them are in intensive care.
• Fayette County had 32% of the state's new cases, 173; Beshear said it was catching up on a reporting backlog. Other counties with 10 or more cases were Jefferson, 87; Daviess, 32; Henderson, 18; Whitley, 11; and Kenton and Pike, 10 each. 
• Beshear said 156 more residents and 117 more staff in long-term-care facilities have tested positive since his last update on them, and that 22 more deaths of residents can be attributed to covid-19. He said one reason for more staff cases is an increase in staff testing, as required by the federal government. There are 762 active resident cases and 462 active staff cases in the facilities, and there have been 704 resident deaths and five staff deaths from covid-19. 
• Beshear announced an outbreak at the Thompson-Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore. He said at least 18 veterans and nine staff members have tested positive for the virus and that five of those infected are hospitalized. 
• The state's K-12 schools report shows 803 active student cases and 406 active staff cases. Since last Thursday, Beshear reported, 157 more students and 82 more staff have tested positive. 
• In colleges and universities, Beshear reported 194 more students testing positive since Thursday. The daily report show 1,116 active student cases and 45 active staff cases.
• More states have been added to Kentucky's travel advisory because they have a positivity rate above 15% or higher. They include, Mississippi, South Dakota, Idaho, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Wyoming and Florida. Florida, at 11.08%, was also added last week because it does not have a statewide mask mandate, has allowed bars and restaurants to fully reopen and is a destination for many Kentucky families during school breaks. Kentuckians who travel to these states are asked to isolate for two weeks upon return. "For God's sake, don't go to the beach during fall break when you want to keep your kids in school," Beshear said. "We've already seen people die from other people's beach trips."
• Stack asked Kentuckians to answer two questions and send their answers only via postal mail to Dr. Steven Stack, Commissioner for Public Health, Kentucky State Capitol, Frankfort KY 40601. The questions are: "Why does covid-19 concern me? Why I am concerned for my fellow Kentuckians?"
• At the University of Kentucky's first football game of the pandemic, "Everyone seemed to obey the rules, minus a few physical-distancing infractions," former Lexington Herald-Leader employees Bruce Engel and Mary Sondergard  write for the paper. "Going to Kroger Field didn’t seem any more dangerous than going to Kroger." But much was different: "Lineup cards and programs? No. Hot dog hawkers? None. Halftime show? Fuhgeddaboudit. Still, it sounded and felt like a college football game, but with the volume set at 4 rather than 10."
• "Nearly a third of hospitalized covid-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function, ranging from confusion to delirium to unresponsiveness," according to a study in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, The New York Times reports. The study in the Chicago area is "the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in an American hospital system. . . . After they were discharged, only 32% of the patients with altered mental function were able to handle routine daily activities."
• The Washington Post's Fact Checker column has a sampling of President Trump's claims that "that success was just around the corner and that his administration has done a terrific job in confronting the pandemic."

Second biggest Sunday, with 616 new coronavirus cases, drives the state's seven-day rolling average above 900 for the first time

Kentucky Health News chart, based on initial, unadjusted reports of daily cases

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

State officials reported 616 new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, sending the seven-day rolling average over 900 for the first time and prompting Gov. Andy Beshear to weigh in with another plea in a news release.

“I normally don’t provide an update on Sunday, but . . . we have shattered the previous weekly record, which we set just last week,” Beshear said. “We have to do better. Please, everyone, wear your mask, engage in social distancing and follow those top ten rules that we have on kycovid.ky.gov.”

Gov. Andy Beshear referred to these preventive steps in his news release.

The Monday-to-Sunday reporting week used by the state had 6,126 new cases, for an unadjusted average of 903 per day. Two months ago, the seven-day average was under 600.

Sundays usually have a relatively low number of cases because of limited testing and reporting, but this Sunday had more cases than any other except July 19, when 979 were reported. That was the height of the July surge; the average for the 10 Sundays between then and now was 427.

In a separate email update, Beshear said, "We are entering the third escalation." His news release said 76 of the new cases were 18 and younger.

“This has not been a good week,” Health Commissioner Steven Stack said in the release. “The president of our nation, his wife and others in the White House – one of the most secure places in the entire world – have tested positive.”

Stack added, “We disregard this threat at our own peril. Don’t forget, there is no cure and there’s not yet a vaccine for coronavirus. Prevention through our behaviors is our main defense. Wear a mask, watch your space and wash your hands. Do these things and you, too, can save someone’s life.”

Counties with more than 10 new cases were Jefferson, 163; Fayette, 47; Christian, 30; Madison, 18; Daviess, 16; Warren, 16; Boone, 15; Scott, 14; McCracken, 13; Kenton, 12; Jessamine, 11; Shelby, 11; and Estill, 10.

Beshear announced four more covid-19 deaths, bringing the state's toll to 1,209: a 69-year-old man from Harlan County; a 71-year-old man from Jefferson County; a 90-year-old man from Logan County; and an 80-year-old woman from Warren County.

“We are losing our fellow Kentuckians . . . far, far more individuals than we would ever want to lose, more than we’ve even lost in some foreign conflicts,” Beshear said. “We are seeing far too many cases. Let's come together as Team Kentucky; let's do what it takes.”

Due to limited reporting on Sundays, reports on hospitalizations and the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus are delayed until Monday.

In other covid-19 news Sunday:

• Lexington police "patrolled off-campus student neighborhoods during Saturday’s first University of Kentucky home football game as part of a new effort to tamp down on large student gatherings off campus as the number of coronavirus cases statewide continues to rise," Beth Musgrave reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The game began at 4 p.m.; UK spokesman Jay Blanton said one incident had been reported to UK police by 6, and police said they had only three noise or large party complaints before 7. "That’s way down compared to the 33 phone calls the department received last weekend and the weekend prior," some about the same site, Musgrave reports.
• For the second Sunday in a row, the Courier Journal comics section had an advertisement advising readers to social distance, wash hands and clean surfaces, but saying nothing about masks. The ad was prepared early in the pandemic by the University of Louisville, U of L Health, the Louisville Metro government and Passport Health Plan. The partnership said last week that they were updating the ad, which media outlets had agreed to run as space permitted. "While social-distance guidelines and increased hygiene are still important protection measures to prevent spreading covid-19, our organizations strongly support the mask guidelines and are working to update the messaging," they said. But not in the ad.
  
  
  Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article246188595.html#storylink=cpy
  
  Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article246188595.html#storylink=cpy
• President Trump paid a surprise visit to supporters outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, wearing a mask and waving at them through a closed window of a vehicle. His doctor said the president might return to the White House Monday but "acknowledged delivering an overly rosy description of the president’s illness Saturday," The Boston Globe reports. "Doctors said that Trump had a 'high fever' Friday, and that there had been two incidents when his oxygen levels dropped — one Friday and one Saturday. They said that Trump received oxygen at the White House on Friday; they were not clear about whether it was administered again Saturday."
• "The administration’s immediate response to its own coronavirus outbreak was, in other words, a microcosm of its response to the broader pandemic: carry on with business as usual, hope it goes away on its own, and conceal the extent of the problem," Gilan Edelman writes for Wired magazine. "For the American public, this opens up a daunting new phase of the covid information war. The White House’s communication will likely be opaque at best, if not actively misleading. Into the vacuum of trustworthy information will flow all manner of false rumors. Already, baseless speculation swirls online among Trump’s supporters and opponents alike that the president is faking the illness."
• Joe Biden's campaign said he "tested negative for the coronavirus for the third time since he was potentially exposed at the debate," The Washington Post reports. "The former vice president, 77, stood more than six feet from President Trump for 90 minutes last Tuesday night, two days before the president announced he had tested positive. Studies suggest that people may be most likely to spread the virus during the 48 hours before they start to experience symptoms. The Democratic nominee is not yet in the clear, however, because most people incubate the virus for two to 14 days before testing positive or showing symptoms."

Ky. could be in third big escalation of cases, just as most schools open; Beshear lectures those that are open in 'red zones'

State graph, adapted by Kentucky Health News; for a larger version, click on it.

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

After Kentucky hit the highest number of weekly coronavirus cases yet, Gov. Andy Beshear said a "third escalation" has begun, and called on Kentuckians to commit to a sense of urgency in their actions to thwart it. 

"With our kids going back to school in many places today or in some version we need urgency from everybody," the governor said at his daily briefing.

"Let's step up and show the urgency we need so we don't have another escalation, so it doesn't impact our economy, our kids, their education. So it doesn't take more lives of Kentuckians," he said. 

Beshear again pleaded with Kentuckians to wear masks, which are proven to slow the spread of the virus, but stressed it more than usual, saying mask-wearing has become urgent. 

"We're not seeing enough of it at the moment," he said. "I can plead, I can beg, but I can also tell you that for a fact, the amount of our economy that's open, the ability to get our kids back in school, and the number of lives we lose or do not lose depends on a number of things, but primarily, the number of people willing to wear these masks," he said, holding one high.  

Beshear said certain events seem to cause a relaxed approach to the virus, such as the beginning of summer, which preceded the escalation that prompted him to issue a mask mandate on July 9.

With the onset of colder weather, when more people move activities inside and are more susceptible to infection, he said, "I now believe that we are not sitting at a plateau, but we are seeing what would be the third escalation that we've dealt with here in the commonwealth," he said. "We have to do better. We have to act with that urgency."

Beshear used the word time and again, including in his next-to-last slide.

Screenshot of next-to-last slide also shows Facebook comments with differing views. Click to enlarge.

This week's White House Coronavirus Task Force report also speaks to the need for urgency, with Kentucky's case numbers moving into the critical "red zone." The report puts 56 of the state's 120 counties into one of the danger zones; 14 of them in the red zone. 

Kentucky's own case-incidence map has 13 counties in the red zone, and the state's color-coded guidance calls for schools in such counties to move to remote learning and halt all sports until they can get to the yellow zone, the lowest danger level.

But Beshear said some counties in the red zone are still holding in-person classes. "If the approach is we're gonna do what we want to do no matter what," he said, "then we can't manage the virus in that way."

Beshear said at least 44 of Kentucky's 538 high-school sports teams are under quarantine.

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman announced the rollout of the state's new K-12 coronavirus dashboard, which will require each school to report daily the number of students and staff who have tested positive for the virus. The data will lag one day behind and can be sorted by state, county, school district and individual school. 

Coleman said parents and caregivers "deserve to know how the covid pandemic is impacting not just the greater community, but specifically the school building that they send their children to every day. It also is very imperative for our teachers and our school staff to know how this covid pandemic is affecting the children and other adults that they interact with every day."

Beshear, asked about Florida's decision to open its bars and restaurants to full capacity, noted that Florida has more than 700,000 cases and huge numbers of deaths (more than 14,000, according to a state covid-19 website), said "What Florida is doing is reckless and it's dumb."

He said every public-health expert says it's not a good idea, and "As long as I am governor, we're not pretending like this virus doesn't exist until we have a vaccine, and until we can deploy it. We're gonna continue with our current levels on bars and on restaurants. And if anybody out there thinks that we should just fully open 'em up to 100 percent capacity and fill up an internal arena, well, you've got the wrong governor. I'm going to do what it takes to protect people. And just because there might be states around us making dumb decisions, we're not going to here in Kentucky; we care about each other way, way too much."

Last week, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb allowed restaurants and bars to open at full capacity, creating more competition for those in Louisville. 

Beshear announced 456 new cases of the coronavirus today, bringing the state's unadjusted seven-day average up to 740, the highest yet. 

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days was 4.41%.

In other covid-19 news Monday:

• Beshear reported five more deaths from covid-19, raising the state's death toll to 1,162. The fatalities were a 56-year-old woman from Fayette County; an 84-year-old woman from Johnson County; and a 91-year-old woman and two men, 93 and 97, from Jefferson County.
• Beshear noted the Thursday death of Alice Sparks, 86, of Fort Mitchell, a prominent civic activist and philanthropist, from covid-19. “She lived a wonderful life and lived life to its fullest, but she should still be with us,” he said.
  
• Fayette County led the list of counties with new cases, with 108. Others with five or more cases were Jefferson, 100; Warren, 25; Daviess, 13; Madison, 13; McCracken, 12; Boone, 11; Allen, 10; Bullitt, Pike and Whitley, 8 each; Henderson, 7; Fulton, Harlan, Kenton, Pulaski and Union, 6 each; and Barren, Calloway, Marshall and Mercer, 5 each.
• The state's daily report said 507 people were hospitalized in Kentucky for covid-19 and 106 of them were in intensive care.
• In 338 long-term-care facilities, there were active cases in 630 residents and 450 employees, and the total of residents dead of covid-19 reached 667.
• In 232 child-care centers, there were 191 cases among employees and 138 among children.
• In 564 K-12 schools, there were 731 active cases among students and 337 among employees. In 55 post-secondary education institutions, the state reported active cases in 1,415 students and 47 employees.
• Fayette County schools could admit small groups of elementary students "starting Oct. 19 for two hours at a time of tutoring, special education and to supplement at home-learning," Valarie Honeycutt Spears reports on a school-board meeting for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "That is contingent on the board seeing a more specific plan from district staff at an Oct. 12 meeting. Individual schools will decide whether to bring the small groups back . . . Kindergarten through fifth grade students could begin returning the week of Oct. 19 for the targeted services. The week of Nov. 2, middle- and high-school students would return for the two-hour classes. No more than 15 total people would be in a classroom at one time. Only 15 percent of students at a school could be in the building at the same time."
• The coronavirus infection rate of 12- to 17-year-olds is about double that of 5- to 11-year-olds, says a study report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study also found that children with underlying conditions were more likely to have severe covid-19 outcomes. "Among school-aged children who were hospitalized, admitted to an intensive care unit, or who died, 16%, 27%, and 28%, respectively, had at least one underlying medical condition," said the report, which added that testing of school-aged children varies across the nation. 
• CDC Director Robert Redfield “suggested in a conversation with a colleague Friday that Scott Atlas is arming Trump with misleading data about a range of issues, including questioning the efficacy of masks, whether young people are susceptible to the virus and the potential benefits of herd immunity,” NBC News reports. “‘Everything he says is false,’ Redfield said in a phone call made in public on a commercial airline and overheard by NBC. He acknowledged that he was speaking about Atlas, a neuroradiologist with no public-health background.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is assembling a $300 million advertising campaign to "defeat despair" about the coronavirus, reports Dan Diamond of Politico. "The effort has been roundly criticized by Democrats, particularly given the timing of trying to rush ads on air" before Election Day, Nov. 3. Politico's "Monday Pulse" update observes, "This is not how the department has ever run a public health awareness campaign, particularly one of this size, and it gives significant power to a small group of political appointees with little oversight." Career HHS spokesman Mark Weber said, "There is no room for political spin in the messages and materials designed by HHS to help Americans make informed decisions about the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 and flu."
• "The nearly 1 million people around the world who have lost their lives to covid-19 have left us a gift: Through desperate efforts to save their lives, scientists now better understand how to treat and prevent the disease — and millions of others may survive," Marilynn Marchione of The Associated Press reports. "Though more deaths are expected this fall because of the recent surge in coronavirus infections in the U.S. and elsewhere, there also are signs that death rates are declining and that people who get the virus now are faring better than did those in the early months of the pandemic."
• In what could be a harbinger of Kentucky's next legislative session, the Republican-controlled Louisiana legislature has called itself into session for 30 days to deal with 70 topics, and "A political tug-of-war over Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' orders to curb the coronavirus may take center stage," The Advocate reports. In Kentucky, only the governor can call a legislative session.

• 

  Screengrab from WKYT
  

  WKYT reports on a weekend demolition derby held by the Lincoln County Fair Board at its fairgrounds near Stanford, showing photos of grandstands full of people siting close together with few if any of them wearing masks. "I was very disappointed," county Health Director Diane Miller told reporter Phil Pendleton, saying she had given the board guidelines to follow. An attendee told Pendleton that people were "extremely respectful" of one another's space and "I’ve never seen that much active consideration for the space between people in a crowd this size." The fair board told Pendleton that signs had been posted with CDC guidelines at the gates and ticket booths, that free masks were provided, and that they walked the grounds reminding people to spread out, and attendees were asked for their names and phone numbers for contact tracing. Below is a wider view, also from WKYT, which said it was taken with a drone:

Beshear asks coaches to put student health first, urges schools in 'red zones' to follow guidance; positive-test rate jumps to 4.52%

White House Coronavirus Task force table; for a larger version, click on it.

By Lisa Gillespie and Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

With at least five Kentucky high school football games canceled due to the novel coronavirus only 11 days after the start of a delayed season, Gov. Andy Beshear said coaches are almost in a sacred position to protect the health of their student athletes. 

“If I was running a high-school program, I would want my team to be getting tested on some [regular] basis,” Beshear said at his daily briefing. “I would really want to talk about a partnership with my parents, ensuring that I always know how my athletes are feeling.” 

The governor noted that college athletes are regularly tested for covid-19, but Kentucky’s school teams aren’t even required to be tested once a week. He said it’s critical that coaches make sure student athletes know their health is a priority. 

“I [would] want to make sure I communicated to them that their health is most important to me, because their futures are big and bright, whether they include athletics or not,” he said. “Don't try to come to a practice just because either it's your senior year, or ‘We really need you.’ I think that that dialogue needs to be there.” 

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that at least five Kentucky high schools have cancelled football games due to covid-19.

Kentucky school districts in "red zones" – where the prevalence of covid-19 is considered ‘critical’ – have been advised to cancel athletics, Beshear noted.

“There's a lot of anticipation and people look forward to it,” he said, “but I think [we need to be] really clear on the expectations of putting the student athlete first.” 

He said football, soccer and volleyball teams have all had new cases of the virus, and two of the five football teams in quarantine because of exposure, Franklin County and Woodford County, played each other recently.

Franklin County's soccer teams are out of play and practice for 14 days after a male football player and the head girls' soccer coach tested positive for the virus, The State Journal reports: "The boys' soccer team hasn’t had any positive cases, but some members of the team play football and have to quarantine because of contact with the student who tested positive." 

Beshear pointed out that the state and the White House use different calculations to determine the coronavirus safety zones for counties, with Kentucky’s map showing nine counties in the red zone, meaning they have 25 or more cases per 100,000 people daily, and the White House listing 17. 

“It ought to tell you that we’re trying to put together a really fair system. . . . in that the White House would have more counties in the red zone,” he said. He stressed that when a county is in the red zone  – like Warren County, which he said has been in the red zone in every single White House report – it means it is in a difficult place and needs to take appropriate actions. 

Beshear often points to Warren County, which was one of the first to start in-person schooling. The latest state guidance calls for red-zone counties to offer remote learning only until they get back into a yellow zone, which means they have 1 to 10 cases per 100,000 people daily. 

The White House report for the week of Sept. 12-18 has 20 Kentucky counties in the newly added orange zone and 30 in the yellow zone. Altogether, 56% of the state’s counties have moderate or high levels of community transmission, with 14% of them having high levels of transmission. 

Communities in the White House red zone have weekly positive-test rates higher than 10% and more than one new case per 1,000 residents. Those in the newly added orange zone have 0.51 to 1 new cases per 1,000, and a weekly positive-test rate of 8 to 10%, or one of those two conditions and one condition qualifying as being in the red zone. Yellow-zone communities have new cases between 0.1 and 0.5 case per 1,000 and a positive-test rate of 5% to 8% -- or one of those, with the other in the a higher zone. 

Statewide, the White House report puts Kentucky in the orange zone for cases, with the 19th highest rate in the nation. It is in the yellow zone for its test positivity rate, the 14th highest. 

Beshear said of the 824 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the state Tuesday, 134 are under age 18, providing stark implications for in-person schooling. 

“Whether it’s safe for our kids to be in school doesn’t depend on me, it depends on the virus,” he said. “And what we can do to stop the virus is wearing a mask and limiting your contacts. It’s your patriotic duty as an American and a Kentuckian.” 

Seven new deaths were reported, bringing the state’s total to 1,119 of the more than 200,000 that have died nationwide. Beshear again urged Kentuckians to wear masks and social distance, calling the pandemic a war. 

“This is a major challenge of our lifetimes: we’ll be judged by how many Kentuckians and Americans we let die,” the governor said. “While we can’t save everybody, we can save a lot of people. Wear a mask. Follow the rules that are out there. If you see crowds that are gathered, don’t go to the crowd.” 

Beshear also noted that the state’s positivity rate had jumped up again, after being below 4 percent for a week. The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days is 4.52%.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing guidance to states earlier this month on how to prepare for covid-19 vaccine distribution, Besehar said he’s created a group that’s working on a plan. 

“When we look at all the different steps, the first is what we’ll get and when we will get it, but then we need to think about storage, physical distribution, the fact that it’ll be two separate shots over 21 days that have to be from the same manufacturer when there might be three or four different vaccines, that means it’s the same provider giving them to you,” he said. 

The group is also looking at who will get first priority and the overall safety of a vaccine. Beshear said he’d have to feel comfortable getting vaccinated himself before releasing it to the public.

In other covid-19 news Tuesday:

• The deaths reported Tuesday were of an 87-year-old man from Hardin County; a 79-year-old man from Jefferson County; a 56-year-old woman from Marion County; a 69-year-old woman and two men, 79 and 90, from McCracken County; and a 92-year-old man from Taylor County.
• Jefferson County had the most new cases on the state's daily report, 129. Other counties in the daily report with more than five were Fayette, 110; Christian, 78; Madison, 37; Warren, 35; Laurel, 28;Hardin, 24; Boone, 18; Whitely, 18; Daviess, 13; Montgomery, 13; Campbell, Clay and Henderson and Muhlenberg, 12 each; Calloway, Kenton, Oldham, 10 each; Nelson, 9; Franklin, 8; Boyd, Boyle, Bullitt, Hopkins, Knott, McCracken, Shelby, 7 each; Pulaski, Rockcastle and Scott, 6 each; and Allen, Barren, Caldwell and Jackson, 5 each.
• Beshear said 511 people were hospitalized with covid-19 in the state, 133 of them in intensive care, and 73 of those on ventilators.
• In long-term care facilities, Beshear said 31 more residents and 50 more staff have tested positive for the virus. The daily report shows 588 residents and 393 staff have active cases. Beshear said four more deaths can be attributed to covid-19 from these facilities, bringing that total up to 622 residents and 5 staff. 
• A "cluster" of coronavirus cases in one unit at the University of Kentucky's Good Samaritan Hospital "has forced covid-19 testing of roughly 100 employees, according to a video of a Zoom staff meeting," Jeremy Chisenhall reports for the Herald-Leader. "Every patient in the unit was to be tested," and employees were admonished not to congregate in the break room. A UK spokeswoman said Monday that there were eight cases.
• A closed pharmacy being used as a virus testing site in Lexington was "vandalized with phrases that appear to question the validity of testing," Morgan Eads reports for the Herald-Leader. "Graffiti had been painted in large red letters."
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is discouraging door-to-door trick-or-treating and costume masks and parties. "Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses," the agency said. It listed several "moderate-risk activities," including "one-way trick-or-treating where individually wrapped goodie bags are lined up for families to grab and go while continuing to social distance (such as at the end of a driveway or at the edge of a yard). If you are preparing goodie bags, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 second before and after preparing the bags."
• Beshear also said the state doesn’t yet have guidance on Halloween yet, although parties for children or adults will be strongly discouraged. As for trick-or-treating, “our guidance will try to give our kids that experience but in the safest way possible.”