Governor Beshear said more than once Monday the start of this week marked the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic. The governor started his day in Louisville where the new COVID-19 vaccine was administered to University of Louisville Health doctors and nurses.
Beshear said he will likely get an injection next week. After vaccinating those in long term care, front line caregivers, and teachers, the governor said the federal government seems to be leaning toward basing the next tier of availability on age.
As public educators begin to prepare for instruction in 2021, Governor Beshear has given them some modified “healthy at school” guidelines to mull over. Under the governor’s plan, schools in red designated counties for high coronavirus spread can still include in-person learning. But Beshear said what he termed a ‘more aggressive hybrid model’ will be needed.
Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman said implementation will look different in some small towns compared to the largest cities. “And so that’s why we are making sure that this guidance is there, that scientific data and multiple metrics are there, and that our schools are able to implement that as they see best suits their community and their school districts,” said Coleman.
While initially the plan had students returning to in-person learning on January fourth, Governor Beshear noted the recommendation now is to start back on January 11th. The governor added that’s based on a possible uptick in spread over the Christmas-New Year’s period.
Governor Beshear announced Monday a one to two day open window opportunity for Kentuckians to apply for the last dollars in a state eviction relief fund.
Meanwhile, Congress continues to wrestle with reaching agreement on new COVID-19 funding with a December 31st deadline for the eviction moratorium looming. During his briefing Governor Beshear said he plans to include money in his state budget to help with emergency housing. “We’re not going to stop helping just because we go from 2020 to 2021. Now we could help a whole lot more people if the federal government would act,” explained Beshear.
State money for emergency housing in a new state budget wouldn’t likely be available until at least early spring.
Governor Beshear reiterated his belief that previous restrictions did help to slow a coronavirus surge. The governor reported 1802 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 additional deaths. The positivity rate stands at 8.5%.
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