Kentucky Health News
Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that he is encouraged by compliance with his order to wear a mask to thwart the coronavirus -- confidence bolstered by a poll showing majorities of Kentuckians in both political parties favor it.
Asked if they support "requiring people to wear a mask in indoor places such as grocery stores, schools, retail stores, and certain outdoor places, such as mass gatherings," 73 percent said they did and 23% said they didn't.
However, Grace Finerman of Lexington' s WKYT-TV reported earlier in the day, "Experts say may in the commonwealth are still not listening to the governor's mandate." Lexington-Fayette County Health Department spokesman Kevin Hall told her that he saw more people wearing masks over the weekend, but many people still enter businesses without them, and some will never wear them.
Beshear said the issue “had the same history of arguments” as seat belts, the difference being “Your decision not to wear a mask may result in other people dying” and is more like driving drunk or on the wrong side of the road.
Beshear issued his order as the state's weekly case numbers were rising by 49 percent. Noting that some states are rolling back some of their re-openings, he said, "We do not want to do that here in the commonwealth. So, what do we have to do? What are the actions that we have to take to protect our economy, to the creation or bringing back all of these jobs? . . . It's pretty simple: Wear a facial covering. . . . It’s now a scientific fact: wearing a mask protects you [and] makes it less likely you will get the virus. It also keeps you from spreading the virus to other people."
The governor showed a video of U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams calling on everyone to wear a mask, and said, "All the experts agree. If we get a critical mass of people wearing mask, we continue to social distance and we remember it, then we can get pretty close to our old normal."
The governor said Bell, Carroll, Graves and Shelby counties all posted major growths in cases in the past week, with Carroll County leading with a 47% increase in cases July 3-11. He said limiting activities in such hotspots "is certainly on the table, and if county judged there are interested in it, I certainly want to talk to them."
He said that even in such counties, "a critical mass of masks" can reverse the trend. He said it would take about 10 days to see the effect of his order.
Health Commissioner Steven Stack said the rise in cases resembles the first big hill of a roller coaster “You feel that sudden lurch when the chain kicks in. That’s where we are right now. We’re starting to climb, and the question is, how tall is that first hill. You can impact how tall that first hill is."
He added, “It’s not too late. Wear these masks and keep that hill small. Because that hill means people’s lives and that hill means people being able to get back to business, back to work and back to the activities they want. If you wear these things, 80 percent or more of us wear these things consistently whenever we are close to each other, we can get this virus under control.”
In long-term-care facilities since Friday, he said, 25 more residents 37 more staff tested positive, and 10 more residents died. In all, 409 long-term patients have died, 65% of the state's total of 629.
The state's daily summary reported 440 hospitalized for the disease, 87 of them in intensive care, but Stack said the numbers only represent 88 of 113 hospitals, since they and the state are shifting to a new reporting system. Last week's averages were 439 and 106, respectively.
Counties with the highest number of new cases Monday were Fayette, with 78; Jefferson, 27; Daviess, 12; Christian, 10; Warren, nine; and Graves and Hardin, eight each.
Beshear again urged Kentuckians to get tested for the virus. Noting that labs across the nation are seeing up to a nine-day turnaround for results, he said Kentucky has bought additional kits to ensure that its testing program has enough, and they come with a 48-hour turn around commitment. This week's free, drive-thru Kroger testing sites are in Independence, Louisville and Lexington. Sign up online.
Courts and politics: A state Court of Appeals judge declined to stay a ruling requiring Beshear's emergency orders to be more specific, leaving the issue to a three-judge panel of the court Thursday. Beshear has said the mask mandate remains in effect because it is also part of an emergency regulation that was no addressed by Scott Circuit Judge Brian Privett.
Also involved is a ruling by Boone Circuit Judge Richard A. Bruegemann that removed Beshear's restrictions on the number of children in classes at day-care centers.
Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a plaintiff in the Scott County case, said at a news conference on another topic that he favors mask wearing, and does it himself, but he is obliged to test Beshear's actions against the state constitution. Last week he joined leaders of the legislature's Republican majority in telling Beshear that he should have consulted with them about the mask order.
In other covid-19 news Monday:
- Lawmakers at Monday's Administrative Regulations Review Subcommittee meeting questioned state health leaders over the mask mandate, WKYT-TV reports. Sen. Julie Racque Adams, R-Louisville, noted various issues among people in her district who have valid reasons to not wear a mask who are not being allowed into establishments. Also, the committee found Beshear's child-care facility order "deficient" after hearing industry testimony that 43% of them will go out of business. The order has been blocked by a judge. Click here to watch the committee meeting, with the discussion on these two topics beginning at 1:27:11.
- About 160 teachers and aides, 110 bus drivers and monitors, 80 cafeteria staff and 700 substitute teachers in the Jefferson County Public Schools are 65 or older, putting them at increased risk of dying from covid-19, Mandy McLaren reports for the Courier Journal. The story explores how school reopenings could be a "life-or-death" situation for older employees.
- Medpage Today reports on evidence for and against reopening schools, weighing the risk of children getting and spreading the virus against the benefits of having them in class.
- President Trump retweeted Ashland-born game-show host Chuck Woolery's tweet that "the CDC, media, Democrats, our doctors" telling "the most outrageous lies" about the pandemic. Woolery added, "I think it's all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election."
- The University of Kentucky is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials to see if purified Artemisia annua plant compounds and its leaves can treat someone with underlying health issues who gets the coronavirus, Alex Acquisto reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Early lab test show the plant shows early signs of inhibiting covid-19. If it works, this plant could easily be cultivated in Kentucky, she writes.
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