Covid-19 update: UofL researchers seeking fast track on technology thought to block covid-19 from human cells; 2 Ky. nursing homes have at least 10 covid-19 deaths; second round of covid-19 likely to be worse

As news develops about the coronavirus and its covid-19 disease, this item may be updated. Official state guidance is at kycovid19.ky.gov.

• University of Louisville researchers have developed a technology that is believed to block covid-19 from infecting human cells. The university is is seeking to fast track development, including application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for approval to start treating seriously affected covid-19 patients, The Lane Report reports. 
• The Kentucky Rural Health Association announced today that Congress is set to approve a new  $225 million  grant program exclusively for federally certified Rural Health Clinics for testing and related expenses associated with the covid-19 pandemic. The grant still needs to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. 
• Two nursing homes in Kentucky have had at least 10 residents die from covid-19 and at least 14 of them have had at least one resident die from it, Daniel Desrochers reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader, along with an easy to read list of all of the nursing homes that have been affected and what counties they are located in. 
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, has just been increased during the coronavirus pandemic, Summer Lin reports for the Herald-Leader. Lin reports that SNAP monthly benefits have increased by 40% overall and that the new benefits would give households an extra $240 in food stamps. 
• In a separate story, the Herald-Leader reports that Walmart and Amazon will soon allow people with SNAP benefits to use them online via their debit cards.. Jeremy Chisenhall reports that Kentucky was one of three states to get federal approval for the pilot program.  
• Don Sweeney with the Herald Leader reports on yet another complication for some with severe cases of  covid-19, blood clots. “The number of clotting problems I’m seeing in the ICU, all related to COVID-19, is unprecedented,” said Dr. Jeffrey Laurence, a hematologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, according to the CNN network. He called the problem “widespread.”
• Bill Estep and Will Wright report  for the Herald-Leader about Kroger's drive-thru covid-19 testing in rural Kentucky, including sites in Somerset, Pikeville, Paducah and Madisonville. Testing will continue through Thursday. 
• The Herald-Leader reports that Louisville lawyer, James Gregory Troutman, 53, "was charged with threatening Gov. Andy Beshear after he allegedly referenced an assassinated governor in a Facebook post before saying he hoped people would shoot at Beshear, police said." Troutman's lawyer, Steve Romines, told WDRB in Louisville that what Troutman wrote was "not a threat" to kill Beshear. 
• Morgan Eads tells the story of a family who had to say goodbye to a loved one who died from covid-19 on Face Time.  Eads reports for the Herald-Leader that three people in the household caught the illness after being visited by a home healthcare nurse, cautioning that people can be asymptomatic and still spread the disease.  
• The Lexington History Museum would like a copy of your covid-19 pictures, stories,letters and memorabilia for their new Lexington Pandemic History Project, the Herald-Leader reports.  
• In a wide-ranging interview, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told The Washington Post that the second wave of covid-19 is likely to be even more devastating than the first because it will likely coincide with the start of flu season. 
• Click here to see the Kentucky Department of Public Health Covid-19 Dashboard found on kycovid19.ky.gov.