The state announced its highest-ever one day total of new coronavirus cases, and its youngest fatality, Tuesday, but Gov. Andy Beshear says he doesn't believe the numbers show a departure from the state trends.
"Today's numbers, while we still believe we can move forward on Healthy at Work, ought to be a wake-up call that there's still a very dangerous virus out there," Beshear said.
Cautioning that several factors made the daily totals deceptively high, Gov. Beshear said the state reported 625 new cases — with nearly half, 309, coming from mass testing at the Green River Correctional Complex. Justice Cabinet Sec. Michael Brown said all but around 50 tests of the facility's inmates and staff have come back.
"What that means is we almost have a complete snapshot of the situation at Green River, which allows us to go ahead and truly plan for how to address that population down there," he said.
Once the the picture is complete, officials will work to separate inmates into four groups based on their results, exposure, and risk factors.
Of 14 new deaths reported statewide Tuesday, one was a 35-year-old male from Jefferson County. No additional information about the case, or any underlying health conditions, was available.
More than 2,000 Kentuckians have recovered from COVID-19 infections.
