After a Thursday with the most COVID-19 deaths ever, and a Friday with the third-highest number of coronavirus cases and a big jump in the positive-test percentage, Kentucky recorded 721 cases, fewer deaths, and a return to a lower positive-test rate Saturday.
The percentage of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days fell to 4.14%, the same rate that was reported Thursday. On Friday, it was 4.7%, close to the 5% rate that public-health experts like to avoid.
“Our positivity rate is down from yesterday but we need to continue to push that number down,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press release. “Make sure you’re protecting your family, yourself and one another.”
Beshear reported 13 more deaths, raising the state’s COVID-19 toll to 1,057. The fatalities were an 89-year-old man from Barren County; an 83-year-old woman from Bell County; two 81-year-old men and two women, 80 and 83, from Jefferson County; a 78-year-old woman from Logan County; a 59-year-old woman from Muhlenberg County; a 76-year-old woman from Simpson County; and four from Warren County: three women 62, 81 and 93, and a 72-year-old man.
Beshear’s press release referred to the record 22 deaths reported Thursday and “a recent recent spike in new daily cases,” then quoted Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack urging Kentuckians to get a flu shot.
“As we wait for a vaccine, there’s one thing we can do,” Stack said. “We can get an immunization that already exists: the flu vaccine. Protecting ourselves against the flu is more important than ever. An influenza outbreak on top of the covid-19 pandemic could be disastrous this fall and winter. The health care systems upon which Kentuckians rely could be overwhelmed by what some say is a looming ‘twindemic’.”
Stack added, “If Kentuckians don’t follow guidelines, such as social distancing, mask-wearing and hand-washing, we could be headed into the worst fall, from a public-health perspective, that we’ve seen in a long time. Flu shots are widely available right now, and this weekend is as good a time as any to see your primary care provider or head to a clinic, drug store or other place offering it. In some cases, there’s even no charge, so please, take one for the team. Take one for Team Kentucky.”
In other COVID-19 news Saturday:
- Counties with 10 or more new cases are Jefferson, 144; Warren, 55; Fayette, 50; Hardin, 27; Madison, 27; Daviess, 24; Christian, 22; Allen, 21; Henderson, 19; Oldham, 18; Barren, 16; Franklin, 12; Lyon, 11; and Jessamine, Meade and Mercer, 10 each.
- A doctor who was at the forefront of fighting COVID-19 in one of the state’s hotspots has died of the disease. Rebecca Shadowen, an infectious-disease specialist and epidemiology at Med Center Health in Bowling Green, died Friday night after battling the disease for four months, said a news release from the hospital chain, which has five other hospitals in Southern Kentucky. Shadowen was a leader in the Bowling Green-Warren County Coronavirus Workgroup , the release said. “Dr. Shadowen will forever be remembered as a nationally recognized expert who provided the very best care for our patients and community,” said Connie Smith, president and CEO of Med Center Health, where Shadowen had been on the medical staff since 1989.
(Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.)
Al Cross is professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Kentucky. He was the longest-serving political writer for the Louisville Courier Journal (1989-2004) and national president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2001-02. He joined the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010. The NKyTribune is the home for his commentary which is also offered to other publications.
