Gov. Beshear Calls COVID-19 Increase “Frightening”

DEM Blogger

October 24, 2020

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 24, 2020) – Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday he is excited to be out of quarantine, but today’s COVID-19 report is, “in a word, frightening.” The Governor said this is Kentucky’s highest day of newly reported cases by a significant amount, except for the one day when a backlog of cases from Fayette County were added.

“This is exploding all over the country. Yesterday was the highest amount of cases ever reported in a single day in the United States,” Gov. Beshear said. “We’ve got to do better, and on Monday we’ll be talking about new recommendations to counties that are in the red. We’ve got to tamp down these cases. The more cases, the more people that end up in the hospital and the more people die.”

Case Information
As of 3 p.m. Oct. 24, Gov. Beshear reported the following COVID-19 numbers:

• New cases today: 1,738
• New deaths today: 8
• Positivity rate: 5.63%
• Total deaths: 1,404
• Currently hospitalized: 840
• Currently in ICU: 208
• Currently on ventilator: 107

Top counties with the most positive cases today are: Jefferson, Fayette, Elliott, Shelby and Kenton.

Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear reported eight new deaths Saturday, bringing the total number of Kentuckians now lost to the virus is 1,404.

“That’s eight additional families who are suffering during this time,” said Gov. Beshear. “Do what it takes to protect your neighbor, to protect their life. That’s what we’re fighting for now – life and death.”

The deaths reported Saturday include a 69-year-old woman from Lee County; a 70-year-old man from Lincoln County; a 71-year-old man from Jessamine County; a 89-year-old man from Jessamine County; an 86-year-old man from Greenup County; an 89-year-old man from Henderson County; a 71-year-old man from Jefferson County and a 79-year-old man from Harlan.

“We’re all tired of COVID-19 and the problems it has brought,” said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public Health. “People are hurting, whether from the virus itself or the impact it has had on the rest of our lives. It’s all worse, though, when we don’t do simple things like wearing masks and socially distancing. As October comes to a close, please be kind to each other and remember that we help each other, and ourselves, when we focus on defeating the virus rather than arguing with each other.”

For additional information, including up-to-date lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here. To see all recent daily reports, click here.

Information about COVID-19 and schools is also being made available. To view the reports, click here for K-12 and here for colleges and universities.

More Information
Read about other key updates, actions and information from Gov. Beshear and his administration at governor.ky.gov, kycovid19.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media accounts Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Kentuckians can also access translated COVID-19 information and daily summaries of the Governor’s news conference at teamkentuckytranslations.com.

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