FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Governor Andy Beshear has provided an update on COVID-19 cases.
The governor says a COVID-19 outbreak has been reported in a nursing home in eastern Kentucky. 41 cases have been reported, including five residents who have been hospitalized. Dr. Steven Stack says that 30% of vaccinated individuals are symptomatic and 83% of unvaccinated individuals in the nursing home show symptoms. He says the vaccination has reduced symptomatic disease. One of the five residents of the hospital has been vaccinated.
They say it appears to be a different variety from the UK, Brazil or South African species. Dr. Stack says it’s the same cluster they’re doing some research on. The name of the facility in eastern Kentucky where this new variant was detected is not available at this time. The governor says they are working to identify the facility and better hold the situation.
Governor Beshear reported 819 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 417,412 cases. The governor says the state sees a 3.87 percent positivity rate. Of Tuesday’s new cases, 122 are in children 18 or younger.
There were 24 reported COVID-19-related deaths on Tuesday, bringing the state total to 5,029.
As of Tuesday, 459 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19-related reasons, 110 are in the ICU and 59 on ventilators. At least 48,802 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.
Gov. Beshear also says Kentucky is monitoring the situation of an Ebola outbreak in two African countries. He says 11 Kentuckians have been in one of those two countries. However, they do not believe there is any significant risk of spreading here. But they keep an eye out.
“We are working with our hospitals to ensure that they are available for 12 to 24 hours to treat suspected patients,” said Government Beshear. “We have six Ebola Assessment Hospitals working with us to make sure they are prepared for treating potential patients and assessments for Ebola.”
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