A day after announcing more than 4,800 new cases of COVID-19 and 65 more deaths attributed to the fast-spreading respiratory virus, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said Thursday that if he still had the singular authority…he’d be implementing mask mandates inside buildings across the Commonwealth now.
Wednesday’s stark numbers were the third-highest for Kentucky since the pandemic began in March 2020, and with COVID-19 hospitalizations having increased statewide through 42 consecutive days, Beshear noted 32 of the state’s 96 hospitals are reporting “critical” staffing issues in treating the coronavirus.
Masking, Beshear said, works.
Beshear specifically mentioned several hospitals that are currently having difficulties transferring critical COVID-19 patients to open intensive care units.
Among his concerns: Caldwell County Hospital, which reportedly has had to use ventilators in its emergency rooms within the last week.
Another problem that’s arrived during the surge and spike of Delta variant COVID-19 comes an unsurprising rash of people scrambling for testing options — and they’re overwhelming emergency rooms across the state.
With numbers eerily similar to early pandemic trends, Beshear is asking for those concerned and needing coronavirus testing find appropriate sites to do so.
Beshear reiterated his already-revealed plan to dispatch seven Kentucky National Guard units to 3-to-5 hospitals across the state as soon as possible, in order to alleviate medical workers in “whatever way possible.”
He specifically mentioned testing sites are going up in Corbin, Pikeville and Morehead — which have been the hardest hit areas thus far in the resurgence.
More than 6,600 Kentuckians received a vaccination within the last 24 hours, bringing those with at least one shot to more than 2.48 million statewide.
