With the Christmas holiday and its imminent celebrations three weeks away, Governor Andy Beshear asked Kentuckians during his Monday news conference to strongly consider vaccinations and/or booster shots prior to gathering with family.
His pleas come as the Commonwealth experiences its highest number of new cases and testing positivity in nine weeks, in what Beshear labeled as a true escalation — and not some mere blip or anomaly.
From Saturday to Monday, Kentucky health departments reported more than 4,800 new cases of COVID-19, more than 180 new deaths attributable to the virus and a 9.13% testing positivity rate, as well as 1,077 Kentuckians hospitalized, 310 in ICU and 168 on ventilators battling its symptoms.
Beshear noted that even removing the variables of Thanksgiving, where testing was sporadic throughout the state, the escalation trend remains, and he added things aren’t going in the right direction due to three specific reasons.
Despite the increasing caseload, Beshear did note that vaccination numbers over the weekend proved strong. More than 15,000 Kentuckians received their first dose of the vaccine, bringing the state north of 2.7 million, while more than 18,000 receive their second dose.
Furthermore, more than 45,000 received a third shot in booster form over the weekend, and in all 61% of Kentuckians have received at least one shot, 53% are fully vaccinated and 14% have had three shots (or two and a booster).
Beshear said reaching 45,000 boosters in a weekend is the rate of success the state needs to see against both the “Delta” and “Omicron” variants — though Beshear added state officials have yet to confirm the first case of “Omicron” in the Commonwealth.
Tips for a safe holiday, from Behsear: be careful when having large indoor gatherings, get vaccinated, waning immunity is real (so get a booster), wear masks if unvaccinated/unboosted, and if feeling sick or uncomfortable symptoms, don’t go to work or large gatherings.
Beshear also reiterated new international travel laws for those 2 years and older coming from the Biden/Harris administration, which now require proof of a negative viral test one day prior to return to the United States, a new test three-to-five days upon return to the country, self-isolation after getting back to the U.S., and for unvaccinated travelers to self-quarantine for seven days upon coming home.
