The rate of Kentuckians testing positive for COVID-19 lurched above 14% for the first time on Wednesday as Gov. Andy Beshear announced 4,468 new cases of the virus.
The governor also confirmed 30 more deaths from the virus, as well as a record number of people hospitalized with coronavirus, in addition to the peak positivity rate, which hit 14.17%, up from 13.74% on Tuesday. In a short video update, he again touted that vaccination and universal masking “are our two best tools to defeat the virus.”
Across the state, 2,424 people are in the hospital with the virus — an increase of 71 people from Tuesday — while 674 are in intensive care units (an increase of 13) and 431 are relying on ventilators to breathe (two fewer). Just over 90% of the state’s ICU beds are filled, leaving a total of 151 available statewide, and 71% of inpatient beds are occupied, leaving 3,907 open.
In Frankfort on Wednesday, lawmakers convened for the second day of a special session, pushing bills through committees that limit Beshear’s executive authority and bar statewide enforcement of certain measures, such as universal masking in schools, that public health experts agree mitigate spread of the highly contagious virus.
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