Legislators, who have voiced displeasure with Beshear's emergency orders and his attitude toward them, are all but certain to override his three vetoes, and he made clear what he would do after that.
Beshear reported that 638 Kentuckians are hospitalized for COVID-19, but he did not note that the figure was the highest daily hospital census yet attributed to the disease in Kentucky. It was a 4% jump from the 612 reported Monday.
The 5.43% test positivity rate was slightly under the daily average for the week so far, 5.51%, and notably under the 5.81% reported Wednesday. Last week, the rate rose above 5% for the first time since testing became generally available.
Beshear said the state remains in "a danger zone, but again with the time to do things right." In a new suggestion, he said businesses could help by letting more of their employees work from home.
The governor reported 797 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, raising the seven-day rolling average to 631, which is 38 higher than yesterday. The only higher daily total was 979, reported Sunday.
Beshear said the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days was 4.92 percent, also the highest since those days, when tests were largely limited to people with symptoms.
During an update Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear reminded Kentuckians that nearly three-fourths of residents support requiring people to wear a mask in public places and asserted the "broken system of social media" allows small groups to look like majorities.
Counties with more than five new cases Friday were Jefferson, 53; Fayette, 33; Warren, 29; Kenton, 17; Shelby, 9; Laurel, 8; Daviess, 7; and Mercer, 6.
