Regional & State

The number of new cases broke the old record of 979, set on July 19, the peak of a surge that sent Kentucky to a much higher level of daily new cases.

Beshear reported 562 new cases Tuesday and said the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days rose to 5.87%, from 5.71% on Monday.

Disinformation about COVID-19 has spread almost as quickly as the novel coronavirus that causes the illness.

Among the new cases, there were 13 children ages 5 and younger who tested positive for COVID-19.

Beshear reported 425 new cases of the virus on Sunday, about 375 fewer than yesterday, but higher than a typical report on a Sunday, when fewer testing laboratories report to the state.

Dr. Steven Stack noted that at least 34 states some version of a mask mandate, including the bordering states of Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, and the top recommendation in the latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report is for Kentucky to keep its mandate and work with local communities to ensure higher usage rates.

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus has crept up as this week has progressed, increasing from 5.18% on Monday to Saturday's rate of 6.02%, the highest it's been since May.

The Kentucky Education Association said in-person schooling shouldn't resume until state and local rates are under 4% for three weeks

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 516 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday. He said Monday through Thursday of this week has had 247 less cases than compared to last week.

The governor said some schools that opened early in other states have had to close due to surges in cases.

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 governor reported 323 new cases on Monday and said 612 Kentuckians in the hospital with the virus, and 136 of them in intensive care.