Kentucky has its first case of a rare inflammatory syndrome that could be related to the coronavirus, putting a 10-year-old into critical condition and on a ventilator, Gov. Andy Beshear announced yesterday.
On the first day that all retail stores were free to reopen, Beshear urged Kentuckians to moderate their goings-about, and pleaded with them to get tested for the virus, saying, “Our challenge now isn’t getting the tests, it’s getting you to take the tests.”
About 100 children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with, and three in New York have died from, pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which appears to be caused by the corionavirus. The World Health Organization is investigating the rare condition.
Beshear and Health Commissioner Steven Stack didn’t release any more information about the Kentucky case. Stack said children ordinarily do well with the virus, but “a small number” can have an overactive immune response. He said there is concern that children don’t show symptoms as early as adults, and there isn’t much prevention to be done, other than normal precautions.
Then Beshear called for a moment of silence, and after it said, “For me as a dad of two kids right around that age, my goal is to be treating this as real. … One reason I wear a mask is not to bring it home to my kids.”
Health and government officials have warned Kentuckians to wear masks in public, especially as businesses reopen. “As your risk elevats, steps to mitigate that risk are what we are asking for,” he said. “If you’re wearing it, it encourages other people to wear it. … If you’re not wearing it, how should you expect somebody else to wear it?”
Beshear also asked his constituents to limit their activities and not to do too much too soon. “If you worked and you got a haircut, maybe you shouldn’t also go to the grocery and do another thing,” he said. “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do something. … It’s gonna be a different summer.”
He again recalled the sacrifices of the World War II generation, saying “It was a multi-year effort that they didn’t even know they were going to win;. Knowing that we’re not looking at years, let’s continue to have the resolve to get it done, and let’s not be that generation that can so something for two months, but three months is just too long.”
Beshear reiterated that sufficient testing is needed to make reopening work, and “Our testing is catching up very quickly,” with 50 or more sites, but they need more signups. He said a Kroger-sponsored site in Corbin has 800 to 900 slots open this week. He said employers need to encourage their employees to get tested, and he suggested that faith leaders do likewise with other leaders in their churches.
Beshear said the state has confirmed 104,001 tests, but the number is low because some large, out-of-state labs haven’t reported negative tests.
With the family’s permission, Beshear spoke about one of the state’s victims of the coronavirus: Robert Wright, 66, of Leitchfield, who died April 30 after a three-week battle with COVID-19.
Beshear said Wright was the father of two children, a supportive brother and attentive uncle, “a proud, seventh-generation Kentuckian” who was “an avid collector and historian … creative, an industrious entrepreneur” who “enjoyed fishing, hunting, hiking and especially falconry. He was a volunteer firefighter, Scout leader and Mason.
“Robert’s family asks all his fellow Kentuckians to please take this coronavirus seriously and to follow the practices and protocols of our health experts and what our officials recommend in order to stay safe and to say alive,” Beshear said. “Sixty-six is far too young.”
Beshear added, “Team Kentucky isn’t just how about we get through the coronavirus. It’s how we feel and care about one another. It’s about our sense of identity as Kentuckians and knowing we share so much in common … Let’s remember this is very real and the people we lose are very real.”
