Beshear announces two cases of COVID variant in Kentucky

Gov. Andy Beshear said two cases of the COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom (UK) have been confirmed in the commonwealth.

“Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack is going to talk about this more tomorrow. The UK variant does spread more aggressively, but he’ll take us through all the implications of having this strain here,” said Beshear.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department announced 31 additional COVID–19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to 2,926.

There are currently 212 active cases, of which 13 are hospitalized.

With the new cases, Whitley County’s COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 68.5.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department announced 43 additional cases of COVID–19 on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to 5,172.

There are currently 98 individuals hospitalized.

With the new cases, Laurel County COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 73.3.

Knox County

The Knox County Kentucky Health Department announced 64 additional cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to 2,652.

Twelve of the new cases involved children, officials stated.

There are currently 232 active cases in Knox County.

With the additional cases, Knox County’s COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 77.5.

The Knox County Health Department also released two public service announcements announcing positive COVID cases at Wildcat Truck Stop in Flatlick and Buffalo Wings and Rings in London.

Individuals who patronized Wildcat Truck Stop on Jan. 20 between the hours of 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., Jan. 22 between the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Jan. 23 between the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Jan. 24 between the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or Jan. 25 between the hours of 6 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., may have been exposed. The help department encourages those who patronized the establishment during these times to monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and if you do become ill and show signs of COVID-19, do get tested.

Individuals who patronized Buffalo Wings and Rings on Jan. 22 between the hours of 5 p.m. to 12 a.m., Jan. 23 between the hours of 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., or Jan. 24 between the hours of 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., may have been exposed. The help department encourages those who patronized the establishment during these times to monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and if you do become ill and show signs of COVID-19, do get tested.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department announced 10 additional COVID–19 cases, bringing the county’s total to 2,382.

There are currently 133 active cases, of which five are hospitalized.

With the additional cases, Bell County’s COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 56.

Statewide

Gov. Andy Beshear announced 2,714 additional COVID–19 cases in Kentucky on Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 350,528.

Beshear reported 35 additional deaths, bringing the death toll to 3,495.

Beshear said 1,566 Kentuckians are currently hospitalized, of which 391 are in intensive care.

As of Tuesday, 111 of Kentucky’s 120 counties have a COVID–19 incidence rate greater than 25, which places them in the red zone.

Carlisle, Wolfe, Lyon, Lee, Elliott, Knott, Magoffin, Greenup and Owsley counties are orange zones.

Hancock County has the highest incidence rate at 103.2.

On Tuesday, Beshear said he had a call today with the President’s COVID-19 team where he learned the federal government will increase each state’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines by 17 percent.

“That is a great start,” said Beshear. “The other thing they are doing is guaranteeing a minimum supply for three straight weeks. One of the tough things we’ve been dealing with is only knowing on a Tuesday what we would have the next week and not knowing what we would have in the weeks after.”