FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 13, 2020) – Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday updated Kentuckians on the state’s continued efforts to fight the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).
Gov. Beshear emphasized his priorities – protecting the health and safety of all Kentuckians, restarting our economy and opening our schools – and said wearing a mask is the most important step we all can take to achieve those goals.
“So, what do we have to do? What are the actions that we have to take to protect our economy, to make sure that we protect $10 billion of our economy? It’s pretty simple. Wear a facial covering,” said Gov. Beshear. “Facial coverings help us achieve our three goals. No. 1 goal is to protect the lives and the health of Kentuckians. It is now a scientific fact: Wearing a mask protects both you and other people.”
He noted that cases are surging across the nation, causing many states to roll back their efforts to reopen their economies.
“The second goal is restarting our economy,” Gov. Beshear said. “There are multiple states now rolling back their reopening. I don’t want that to be us.”
Gov. Beshear said that while Kentucky is not posting the positive case numbers that we’re seeing in many places, many areas of the state are seeing worrying increases.
The Governor said Bell, Carroll, Graves and Shelby counties all posted major growths in cases in the past week, with Carroll County leading with a 47% growth in cases from July 3 to July 11.
Case Information
As of 4 p.m. July 13, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 19,653 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 272 of which were newly reported Monday.
The Governor warned against seeing too much positive in the relatively low number of new cases reported today, saying we often see fewer cases reported coming out of a weekend.
“We continue to see a rise in cases for children under five. Today we have 11 and the youngest is just four months old. This impacts our children, too,” said Gov. Beshear.
Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear reported four new deaths Monday, raising the total to 629 Kentuckians lost to the virus.
The deaths reported Monday include two men, ages 60 and 79, and a 90-year-old woman from Fayette County, and a 77-year-old man from Warren County.
“We are continuing to see a significant number of 60-year-olds who continue to lose their lives to COVID-19. I hope none of us think that that is old,” said Gov. Beshear. “Let’s remember these families. At a time when cases are escalating and we’re seeing things in Florida that are just terrifying, let’s make sure that we’re giving people that comfort of being able to see those green lights and hear those bells in their neighborhood.”
As of Monday, there have been at least 480,372 coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky. At least 5,344 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.
CARES Act Reimbursements
Gov. Beshear, in collaboration with the Department for Local Government (DLG), announced today that 15 western Kentucky governments have been granted $3,667,367 in reimbursements from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act for local governments with expenses related to COVID-19. Sixteen others have received preliminary approval, meaning they will receive reimbursements once final documentation is submitted to DLG.
“We know many of our local governments are hurting,” the Governor said. “That’s why we set aside $300 million in CARES Act funding for local governments with expenses related to COVID-19 to be administered by our Department for Local Government.”
For full details on the announcement, click here.