Wednesday marks the beginning of another phase of re-openings within Kentucky's medical community. Hospitals and healthcare facilities can start doing non-emergency surgeries at 50% of their pre-COVID-19 capacity.
During Tuesday night’s briefing at the capitol, Governor Beshear was asked if he’s concerned that more than two months into dealing with coronavirus, a false sense of security is being felt by some citizens. “Am I worried that our reopening plans add to that false sense of security? Yeah. I am a little bit. But, I know that where we are economically right now. We’ve got to try to do this and do it safely,” said Beshear.
The governor reported 191 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus and ten new deaths. Beshear also said a ten year old on a ventilator suffering from a rare complication of COVID-19 was doing better. He said a second patient, a 16 year old has been hospitalized with the virus, but was not needing a ventilator.
Governor Beshear noted preparation for beefing up workers to conduct contact tracing tied to coronavirus cases is firming up. The governor said he anticipated the apparatus for tracking down those who come in contact with COVID-19 infected persons to be in place by the end of next week. Beshear said the new hires can support what’s already being done by local health departments. “This is conjunction to work with you. You do amazing work. We’re going to continue to need you to do amazing work. You are appreciated and we’re going to work really hard to integrate this with what you already do,” explained Beshear.
Beshear added working out the plan for reopening local governments and other agencies like public libraries and museums has taken longer than expected. But, he noted work continues on the plan.?
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