Gov. Andy Beshear announced 4, 911 new COVID-19 cases in the commonwealth Thursday, the second highest daily report following the highest ever on Wednesday.
There have been 10,653 cases in just two days. Kentucky’s positivity rate is now 11.9% - the highest rate the state has seen since May 5, 2020.
“We are in a dangerous place. It is now clear that we are seeing an escalation related to holiday gatherings. This is not the time to make it harder to react to this virus when it may be surging again,” Beshear said. “We have to have the tools to fight back.”
Beshear said 1,744 Kentuckians are in the hospital with COVID-19 and 424 are receiving intensive care treatment; 217 people are on a ventilator and 37 deaths were reported today.
“Wear your masks all the time when you are indoors and there is anybody else there who is from outside your household. At this point, do it for your own safety,” he said. ”That’s what we need to do to get through these next couple months. Over the last two days, we have vaccinated 32,524 Kentuckians. We are ready to defeat this virus and we need to make sure we protect our people while we do.”
Beshear said Kentuckians can watch his joint State of the Commonwealth and budget addresstonight at 7 p.m. EST via his social media channels, where closed captions are also available. For full coverage, Kentuckians can tune to Kentucky Educational Television.
Beshear released a statement on Wednesday regarding the events that occured at the United States Capital. View his statement here.
