COVID-19

The governor noted that more deaths have been reported recently among people in their 50s and 60s, which he said should remind people in at-risk categories (over 60 or with underlying medical conditions) that “just because things are open doesn’t mean you should be going to them.”

About half of rural respondents, roughly the same as the nationwide average, said they agreed their state has taken appropriate action to contain the pandemic.

Beshear also announced that restaurants, retail stores and others that have been operating at 33% capacity can increase to 50% capacity one month after they were allowed to reopen.

At least 4,103 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the county. That includes 2,284 by the health department and 1,819 by Jennie Stuart. Additional testing has been done through local physicians’ offices and medical clinics, but those numbers are not being reported.

Among the new cases Sunday and Monday, 61 were in Louisville Metro and 48 were in Lexington. The state has had 11,476 people with the virus, 3,359 of whom have recovered and 472 of whom have died.

In the first eight days of June, the county recorded 22 new cases. That is approximately 15% of the total number of cases since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March. The only other period with more cases locally was April 1-8, when 33 cases were reported.

In the week between May 31 and June 6, the number of Christian County’s COVID-19 cases increased by 23.

After two weeks of general decline, the state began seeing rises in cases May 29, when 283 were reported. Including that day, seven of the last nine days have had case numbers higher than 213.

The minister stopped in-person services in late May after several congregants tested positive, but he told a Lexington Herald-Leader reporter he plans to resume them on June 21 at a “huge tent revival.”

Benton Police Chief Stephen Sanderson said law enforcement asked a group of 2nd Amendment advocates, who had planned to attend the protest out of fears local businesses would get looted, to set up a couple blocks away from the protest. Those advocates were mostly out of view from the protest on the courthouse square.

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.