‘This is as rough as it gets,’ Beshear says as COVID numbers rise

Number Peaked Over The Weekend

                              (File)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – “We continue to be hit harder and harder,” Gov. Andy Beshear said regarding COVID-19 and especially the delta variant during a Capitol press conference on Monday.

He announced daily case numbers from the weekend, which he said were higher than the winter peak. Saturday had 4,050 new cases, the second-most ever for a Saturday.  There were another 3,249 on Sunday, and Monday had the highest number ever for that day of the week with 2,619.

“In a three-day period, in a weekend, this is as rough as it gets,” Beshear said.  “Saturday, 13 new deaths.  Sunday, 18 new deaths.  Monday, 25 new deaths.  These were the type of numbers that we hoped to never see again.”

Kentucky’s positivity continued to rise Monday, standing at 13.45%, according to the governor.  “The only reason it hasn’t jumped much higher, is we have significantly more people getting tested right now, which is a good thing.”

The hospital census on Monday once again hit an all-time high. A total of  2,198 Kentuckians are hospitalized.  Of them, 615 are in the ICU and 361 on a ventilator.  All three are record numbers in their respective category.  

“We don’t know where the peak is going to be yet,” Beshear noted.  “We ought to be concerned about that.  I believe we will find a peak when we force it.  When we force it by masking.  When we force it by vaccination.”

He also said August 2021 in turning out worse for COVID than a year ago.  “Last August was serious, but in many ways, it pales in comparison to where we are now.  In August 2020 we had 19,903 cases, and that felt like a ton.  That worried us.  This August, we’ve had 77,089 cases.  3.89 times more than last year.”

One good number on Monday was the number of people vaccinated last week, which was 27,505.  That raises the overall number of Kentuckians what have had at least one vaccination to more than 2.5 million.

Taking a look at the overall pandemic totals, Kentucky has had 572,517 people test positive for COVID.  The number of deaths has reached 7,741 and 119 out of Kentucky’s 120 counties are now red zones.  The lone holdout is Woodford County, which also has the highest vaccination rate in the state.

Gov. Beshear is expected to update the COVID-19 situation during his regular Thursday press conference.