Gov. Beshear Asks Kentuckians to Keep Focus on Testing in COVID-19 Fight

The Governor provided updates on coronavirus testing throughout the commonwealth, staying Healthy at Work and a report regarding a 10-year-old child who is ill-related to COVID-19.

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(Frankfort, Ky.) - On Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear provided updates on Kentucky’s fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Governor provided updates on coronavirus testing throughout the commonwealth, staying Healthy at Work and a report regarding a 10-year-old child who is ill-related to COVID-19.

“The green lights continue to sprout up and light up all over Kentucky. This is our true show of unity and compassion,” the Governor said. “When I look out at night and see these lights, it shows that we are Team Kentucky and we will get through this together.”

Case Information
As of 5 p.m. May 11, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 6,677 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 105 of which were newly confirmed Monday. On Sunday, 141 new cases were confirmed.

Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear also reported four new deaths Monday and three new deaths Sunday, raising the total to 311 Kentuckians lost to the virus.

The deaths on Sunday include a 67-year-old man from Allen County, and two women, ages 73 and 90, from Jefferson County. The deaths on Monday include a 72-year-old man from Bullitt County, a 69-year-old man from Henderson County, a 79-year-old woman from Hopkins County, and a 72-year-old woman from Jefferson County.

“These are seven Kentuckians that we have lost, seven families that are grieving, seven more individuals that need every green light that we’ve lit up, and every bell that we rang at 10 a.m. every day,” the Governor. “These seven are just as important as anybody else that we have lost, and let’s make sure we pay the same type of homage to them and put forth the same type of effort that their families know that we are fully with them.”

At least 2,335 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 for Sunday’s information, and click here for Monday’s.

Child Illness
Gov. Beshear and Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, talked about a troubling new case involving a child.

The Governor said a 10-year-old child in Kentucky is on a ventilator related to COVID-19.

Dr. Stack spoke about a new syndrome that is being recognized in young people related to the coronavirus.

“For parents, you should take great comfort that children overall do extraordinarily well with this and do not have serious illness,” said Dr. Stack. “However, there are a small number of children who can get a syndrome where their immune system becomes overactive and they have an extensive inflammatory response in their body.”

Dr. Stack said the disease is still out there and is still a danger and we must continue to take the steps to protect each other and follow the guidance issued.

“My heart goes out to this family and child,” Dr. Stack said.

Gov. Beshear asked everyone to take a moment of silence to uplift the family and child.

Testing Expansion
Gov. Beshear has announced new partnerships with First Care Clinics and Bluewater Diagnostics Laboratory that will help Kentuckians get tested for COVID-19 at no cost before they go back to work, even if they do not have health insurance. For more information on the new partnerships, click here.

Information on how to register at more than 70 sites throughout the commonwealth can be found at kycovid19.ky.gov.

Green River Correctional Complex
Gov. Beshear and J. Michael Brown, secretary of the Governor’s executive cabinet, discussed efforts to treat and prevent COVID-19 cases at the Green River Correctional Complex in Central City.

“At Green River Correctional Complex we have now tested 1,081 staff and inmates. Of those, 50 staff and more than 350 inmates have tested positive. Once we got universal testing done we began a new housing plan that separates inmates into four groups: positive, negative with direct exposure, negative with no direct-exposure and negative and medically vulnerable,” said Secretary Brown. “We’re also doing more thermometer checks and making sure that inmates have access to both phones and showers.”

Healthy at Work
Gov. Beshear has outlined the requirements to begin reopening major segments of the economy and society including houses of worship, which reopened May 9, and those that re-opened today, including horse racing, manufacturing, and distribution, office-based businesses, construction, pet grooming and boarding, photography and vehicle or vessel dealership. On May 18, government offices and agencies are set to re-open, and retail and funeral services are scheduled to re-open May 20. The full plans for those entities to reopen is posted online at [healthyatwork.ky.gov]healthyatwork.ky.gov.

All businesses should follow the 10 rules of staying healthy at work as well as industry-specific guidance, which continues to be issued as it is available for respective industries. See the full reopening schedule here.

In addition, Dr. Stack announced Health Care Reopening Phase 2 is beginning with outpatient and ambulatory surgery and invasive procedures.

All patients must have COVID-19 pre-procedure testing per professional association guidelines consistent with KDPH guidance. The 10 rules of reopening also apply, which includes universal masking and personal protective equipment (PPE), closed common areas, along with requirements to follow specific procedure guidance.

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 tinyurl.com/kygovespanol (Spanish) and tinyurl.com/kygovtranslations (more than 20 additional languages).