Second-Highest Day of New COVID-19 Cases on Friday

FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 24, 2020) – Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday announced the second-highest daily total of new cases of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in Kentucky.

“Today we are reporting what I believe is the second-highest number of new cases we have had since our first case on March 6, with 797 new cases of COVID-19. That brings our total number of cases to 29,931. What it means is we are continuing to see an increase and a growth that we absolutely have to stop,” said Gov. Beshear. “And we’ll be watching these very carefully through the weekend and if we do not see the numbers come down, we going to have a series of recommendations and steps that we’ll need to take next week.”

Case Information
As of 4 p.m. July 24, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 25,931 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 797 of which were newly reported Friday. Nineteen new cases were from children ages 5 and younger.

Seven new deaths were reported Friday, raising the total to 691 Kentuckians lost to the virus.

The deaths reported Friday include an 81-year-old man from Boone County; a 59-year-old woman from Hardin County; an 85-year-old woman and an 82-year-old man from Jefferson County; a 66-year-old man from Oldham County; and two women, ages 54 and 74, from Warren County.

As of Friday, there have been at least 574,233 coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky. The positivity rate currently stands at 5.28%, the highest ever reported in Kentucky.

At least 7,396 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.

Ernst & Young Contract to Help with Unemployment Claims Extended
Today, Gov. Beshear announced that he is extending Ernst & Young’s contract to help process unemployment claims, after the firm met and exceeded expectations in July.

He added that the number of Ernst & Young employees will decrease during the additional five weeks of the $4.4 million extension and that the new contract and the original contract with Ernst & Young would not impact the state’s normal budget.

“The renewed five-week contract and the original contract are both coming from our CARES Act funding and not the General Fund,” said Gov. Beshear.

Gov. Beshear emphasized that the partnership with Ernst & Young has helped state government employees assist more Kentuckians in-person and has led to much faster resolution of claims.

Since the pandemic began, there have been more than 1 million claims filed for unemployment insurance, paying out more than $3.23 billion to Kentuckians since March.

Kentucky Commercialization Ventures Launched
Today, Gov. Beshear announced the formation of Kentucky Commercialization Ventures (KCV), a public-private partnership aiming to grow the commonwealth’s tech sector jobs and startups.

KCV will help develop innovations from the state’s public universities and colleges into market-ready products, services and businesses.

Funded by $1.155 million in contracts through KY Innovation, the state’s office for entrepreneurial and small business support within the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, KCV brings together the commercialization offices at the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky with the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp.

As well, it partners with Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, Northern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University and the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. KCV’s model is nationally unique in partnering every public university and community and technical college in the state to create a state-funded, shared and dedicated resource for commercialization of innovations from those institutions.