LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Health officials have identified 244 new confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, and two more Kentuckians have died after contracting the respiratory illness, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday.
The governor did not hold a live briefing Saturday to provide the update on the spread of the novel coronavirus in Kentucky, and there is not one planned for Sunday. Instead, he posted a short YouTube video update to Twitter.
Governor Beshear provides a quick update on #COVID19 in Kentucky. As a reminder, the next live update will take place Monday, May 18 at 5 p.m. ET. https://t.co/2AQLF7fseW
— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) May 16, 2020
Not many labs reported new cases Saturday, Beshear said, but the state is up to at least 7,688 since the pandemic began. With the new deaths announced Saturday, 334 Kentuckians have now died after contracting COVID-19.
At least 2,768 of the state's COVID-19 patients have recovered, Beshear said. To date, the governor said there have been 1,967 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in the state, and 438 people are currently hospitalized with the virus. There have been 866 people in the ICU with the virus to date, and 270 COVID-19 patients are currently in the ICU.
Citing an outbreak at the JBS Swift plant in Butchertown and the Maryhurst long-term care facility, Beshear said 94 of the new cases reported Saturday came from Jefferson County. JBS Swift confirmed 67 COVID-19 cases at its facility Friday.
State health officials have processed 129,405 tests as of Saturday, according to the governor, who said the state is seeing a lower number of deaths reported daily and an overall lower number of hospitalizations.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer posted an update on new cases in Jefferson County to his Twitter account Saturday afternoon.
The mayor reported 58 new confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the county total to 1,922. He also announced the death of a 78-year-old man, bringing the total number of deaths in the county to 127.
The Jefferson County numbers reported by Fischer and Beshear may be off because of labs not reporting additional cases over the weekend.
We have 58 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing our total to 1,922. We've sadly lost 1 additional person. Please keep his family in your thoughts. Let's continue to #StayHome, & if we must go out, stay 6' apart & cover our faces to stop the spread of this virus. pic.twitter.com/7nJnNZygWt
— Mayor Greg Fischer (@louisvillemayor) May 16, 2020
At least 1,197 people have recovered from the virus in Jefferson County, according to Fischer, who announced 44 new recoveries Saturday.
Beshear's next live briefing will take place at 5 p.m. Monday, May 18, from the state Capitol.
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