Kentucky's COVID-19 cases still rising, but mask compliance 'good,' Gov. Andy Beshear says

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky's cases of COVID-19 are continuing to rise, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday, but he insisted most people support and are complying with the mask mandate, which should help keep the economy open..

The governor said that while the rate of positive tests is rising, Kentucky still is faring much better than other states like Arizona and Florida that are seeing sharp spikes and record numbers of new cases.

The state reported 277 new cases Monday, but Beshear said that number is artificially low because of the low number of results that were returned today. He said he expects that number to be higher Tuesday.

Beshear also reported four additional deaths, though none in Jefferson County.

The share of the COVID-19 tests that are coming back positive was 4.35 percent, which is up significantly from two weeks ago, the governor said.

A higher positivity rate means the rising number of cases is a result of a greater share of people with infections -- not because the state has increased its testing capacity.

Beshear said that according to Kaiser Health, Kentucky ranks 26th in the country in the number of tests being performed, and among those top 26 states, Kentucky has the lowest positivity rate, which is good news.

Nonetheless, Beshear said that rising cases in other states "ought to really worry all of us."

Many Kentuckians are traveling outside the state, including to places where cases are spiking, he said. That means Kentucky will see cases that originated outside of the state.

In addition, Beshear said, some other states are rolling back or halting the reopening of their economies.

"We do not want to have to do that in the Commonwealth," he said.

The main way to prevent that from happening in Kentucky is to "wear a facial covering."

The governor said wearing such a covering will protect lives and the economy, and according to a new survey, 73 percent of Kentuckians support the mandate.

"We are more united, I think, than anyone might have known," Beshear said.

A separate Gallup poll released Monday found that mask wearing in the U.S. varies widely by political affiliation, with 24 percent of Republicans saying they "always" wear one when outside their home, compared with 61 percent among Democrats.

At a press conference, Beshear said he was pleased that President Trump wore a mask for the first time in public over the weekend. And he played a clip of U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams saying the country could "turn this thing around in two to three weeks if we can get a critical mass of people wearing face coverings, practicing at least six feet of social distancing, doing the things that we know are effective."

Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky's public health commissioner, said that while Adams is appointed by a Republican president and he is appointed by a Democratic governor, they share the same position on wearing masks.

Stack also sought to prepare Kentuckians for increased COVID-19 deaths in the coming weeks.

"This disease is one of those things where it takes anywhere from three to four weeks to see a lag time. So when people say, 'Why are the cases going up but the deaths are going down?' it's because the deaths will follow the cases going up by a couple of weeks," he said.

Nationwide, more than 3.3 million people have been infected with COVID-19, and more than 135,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. That means the virus' death rate in the U.S. is about 4.1 percent. For comparison, the mortality rate of the most recent flu season was less than 0.2 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Globally, more nearly 13 million people have contracted COVID-19, and more than 570,000 have died. The global mortality rate is 4.4 percent.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.

To reduce the risk of spreading the disease, the CDC recommends that people: