Following more than 250 COVID-19 news conferences and daily briefings, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear delivered his final address regarding the global pandemic on Friday at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort — signing into executive order the removal of several restrictions surrounding social distancing in the Commonwealth.
Among the biggest changes:
■ The end of capacity limits for restaurants, bars and other public venues
■ And a refocused masked mandate in line with the Center for Disease Control’s high-risk settings involving public transit, long-term care facilities and health care facilities
As of Friday, Beshear stated more than 2.1 million Kentuckians have been administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and he’s urging for the efforts to continue. The state had 237 new cases and nine deaths attributable to the virus with a 2.05% positivity rate — all downward trends since January 2021.
And of the nine deaths reported on Friday, Beshear said eight of the victims were unvaccinated.
According to the weekly federal report, Kentucky has now moved from a “red” to a “yellow” state with moderate transmission of the virus, and of 120 counties, only Webster currently resides in the red high-incidence rate.
Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, said the success is directly related to the vaccine. The state’s weekly number of COVID-19 cases have declined 93% in the last six months, while hospitalizations for COVID-19 have declined 83% in the same time frame.
More than 7,100 Kentuckians have died from COVID-19 since the state started tracking its first case on March 6, 2020.
But Beshear said that’s a far cry from the more ominous, ghastly numbers he and his staff first estimated at the height of the pandemic during the summer of 2020.
More than 370,000 eligible Kentuckians have signed up for “Shot At A Million,” which will provide three persons age 18 and older — who have been vaccinated — a chance at winning $1 million. The incentive is also providing 15 chances for those aged 12-to-17 to win a full scholarship to any Kentucky public college, university, technical or trade school.
Winners will be announced on July 2, July 30 and August 27. For more information, visit ShotAtAMillion.ky.gov.