On Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear said Kentucky recorded a combined 13,005 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (4,732), Sunday (3,376), Monday (2,541) and Tuesday (2,356).
The governor also reported a record number of new COVID cases in a one-week period as 30,680 cases were reported between August 30 and September 5, topping the previous record-high week reported the previous seven days.
“We continue to see more cases than is safe by any means,” Beshear said. “The bad news is we had the worst week ever last week. Our hospitals continue to be pushed to the brink. If we have one bad week, we can very quickly run out of ICU beds.”
Of the 13,005 new cases, 3,757 (28.9 percent) were children 18-years-old and younger. The new cases raise the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 605,468.
A combined 60 new COVID-related deaths were reported, increasing the state’s death toll to 7,905 (1.3 percent fatality rate).
As of Tuesday, 2,353 people were in a hospital, down 12 since Friday, with 661 patients in ICU, the same number of intensive care patients as Friday. Officials said 433 people were on ventilators, up eight since Friday.
The positivity rate stands at 13.74, up from Friday’s 13.17 percent.
National Disaster Medical System teams arrives at Morehead hospital
On Sunday, Beshear announced the arrival of a National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) team at St. Claire Regional Medical Center to assist the hospital in the current surge of COVID cases.
The governor has also used the Kentucky National Guard, FEMA’s Emergency Medical Services strike teams and nursing students to help at strained healthcare facilities across the commonwealth.
Officials at St. Claire Regional Medical Center said the help they’ve received during the current COVID surge of has been an enormous relief to the overworked staff (Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) operate under the NDMS as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).
“The DMAT team being here means that we’ve got a little bit of relief this time. I can’t stress how important that is. They’re providing relief to an already tight staff who are just exhausted. The DMAT team is able to take patients and that allows our team to rest a little bit while still working,” said Lerae Wilson, DNP and Chief Nursing Officer.
Dr. Williams Melahn, Chief Medical Officer, said, “We have been overwhelmed for a while. Their arrival has helped us recoup, regroup and get better care. We completely are thankful to them and have great gratitude for their arrival.”
High school principal encourages Kentuckians to get vaccinated
Mark Wade, principal of Boyle County High School, shared his story of battling COVID-19 via video message and encouraged all Kentuckians to get vaccinated.
“I never thought I would be hospitalized. I was just 41-years-old with no pre-existing conditions, (and) I was pretty healthy,” Wade said. “The virus is no joke; it doesn’t discriminate. The vaccine was not available before I was hospitalized and became ill with COVID, but it is now. I trust that the vaccine will help me. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, get the vaccine. It just makes sense.”
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
