FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Governor Andy Beshear provided an update on the COVID-19 cases.
The governor said an outbreak of COVID-19 was reported at a nursing home in eastern Kentucky. There are 41 reported cases, including five residents who have been hospitalized. Dr. Steven Stack says that 30% of vaccinated individuals are symptomatic and 83% of those not vaccinated in the nursing home have symptoms. He says that vaccination has reduced symptomatic diseases. One of the five hospital residents was vaccinated.
They say it appears to be a different variant from the UK, Brazil or South African strain. Dr. Stack says it is the same cluster on which they are doing some research. The name of the facility in eastern Kentucky, where this new variant was detected, is currently not available. The governor says they are working to identify the facility and better control the situation.
Governor Beshear reported 819 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state total to 417,412 cases. The governor says that the state is registering a positivity rate of 3.87%. Of Tuesday’s new cases, 122 are in children aged 18 and under.
There were 24 COVID-19-related deaths reported on Tuesday, bringing the state total to 5,029.
As of Tuesday, 459 people are hospitalized for reasons related to COVID-19, 110 are in the ICU and 59 are on ventilators. At least 48,802 Kentucky residents have recovered from the virus.
Governor Beshear also said that Kentucky is monitoring the situation of an Ebola outbreak in two African countries. He says 11 Kentuckians were in one of those two countries. However, they do not believe there is a significant risk of spread here. But they are watching.
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