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More than 10,000 Kentuckians have died from COVID-19, and the state’s positivity rate just rose for the first time in weeks

Governor Andy Beshear
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On Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reported that the state had surpassed 10,000 COVID-19 deaths. He said it was the third leading cause of death last year and so far this year.

A COVID-19 memorial will be held at 1pm on Sunday, Nov. 14 outside at the State Capitol.

Beshear also reported Monday that state’s increase of positivity may signal that cases are plateauing.

“Because if we plateau here, we really are higher than we should be,” he said.

Kentucky’s positivity rate is 5.44%. Beshear added that deaths, that could be avoided, could continue if cases plateau instead of declining.

To keep cases trending down, Beshear said more people need to get vaccinated and those who are eligible should get boosters.

“And if we don’t do them both, well, we’re vulnerable at different ends,” he said. “I am concerned though, that many school districts are going mask optional — before we are out of the orange or sometimes even in the red.”

Beshear said ICU bed capacity has decreased because there are fewer COVID-19 patients. Although hospital admissions are down, most of the state’s hospital ICUs are at 80 to 100% capacity.

Kids ages 5 to 11 may now schedule vaccine appointments. Beshear said those slots are filling up quickly.

Corinne Boyer is the health reporter for the Ohio Valley ReSource. Previously, she covered western Kansas for the Kansas News Service at High Plains Public Radio. She received two Kansas Association of Broadcasters awards for her reporting on immigrant communities. Before living on the High Plains, Corinne was a newspaper reporter in Oregon. She earned her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and interned at KLCC, Eugene’s NPR affiliate. Corinne grew up near the South Carolina coast and is a graduate of the College of Charleston. She has also lived in New York City and South Korea. Corinne loves running, checking out stacks of books and spending time with her rescue cat, Priya.
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