While as of Thursday Kentucky was one of only six states that met basic federal criteria to reopen its economy safely, the state's number of cases and rate of transmission are up.
The majority of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week had recently participated in a gathering or had been in a congregate setting, said County Health Director Kayla Bebout.
Kentucky briefly celebrated a two-week downward trajectory in new cases just last week, but starting May 28 the number jumped to 283, and for five of the last seven days the case numbers have been over 213.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and state Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack said the virus was unlikely to be the primary factor resulting in the child’s death, but reporting methodologies mandate the case be listed as a coronavirus death.
Health Commissioner Steven Stack pointed to the percentage of tests that find infection. Over the last two weeks, that number has declined to about 4%. The goal is 3%.
The state has reported 10,046 cases of the novel coronavirus, with 457 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, including 90 in intensive care. At least 3,232 have recovered. The number of reported deaths stands at 439.
Superintendents were told that because there will be no vaccine this year, and no treatment is likely to be widely used before school is fully underway, schools will have to rely on social distancing and other public-health measures to reduce the risk of infection.
