No deaths from covid-19 in Ky. for the first time in 1½ months

Kentucky Heath News chart shows that cases trended up this week, but the two-week trendline, a key federal metric used to guide states in reopening their economies, is down.

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

“For only the second time in about a month and a half, we have zero new deaths to report,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in his daily coronavirus update, delivered by press release, not in person.

Beshear reported 148 more cases of the coronavirus, for an adjusted total of 8,571. At least 3,102 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus. For additional information, including lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here. The list does not include a breakdown of today's new cases.

While a key federal metric for states reopening their economies, a two-week trendline, is down in Kentucky, the state's cases have trended upward this week as Beshear has allowed all retail establishments to reopen, restaurants to reopen at limited capacity, and gatherings of 10 or fewer people, a step he advance to include Memorial Day weekend.

“I am urging Kentuckians to please be safe this weekend,” Beshear said in the press release. “As we recover, we are depending on Kentuckians to take the steps necessary to protect one another this weekend and every day and weekend moving forward.”

About 200 demonstrators gathered on the steps of the state Capitol to call for removal or reduction of restrictions imposed by Beshear. Few masks were in evidence as people stood within six feet of each other, and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wesley Morgan went around shaking hands.

Four would-be protesters had sought an injunction from a federal judge to block any state enforcement at the event, but District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove said no Thursday evening, noting that the Beshear administration said the rally could proceed, and the four men hadn't shown that they had suffered harm, the Courier Journal reports.

In other covid-19 news Saturday:

• The "How Covid-19 Spreads" webpage of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer says that the coronavirus spreads easily from contaminated surfaces. A CDC spokeswoman told The Washington Post that the agency made the change after that the revisions were the result of “usability testing” and an internal review. The webpage still says,  “It may be possible that a person can get covid-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about this virus.”
• President Trump’s move to block travel from Europe in March "triggered chaos and a surge of passengers from the outbreak’s center" before the ban went into effect, the Post reports, noting that "Harrowing scenes of interminable lines and unmasked faces crammed in confined spaces spread across social media." Trump banned travel from China in February, but allowed 48,000 Americans to return, and "Members of the administration’s coronavirus task force were even presented with charts showing that the number of flights arriving from Europe dwarfed the influx from China," the Post reports.