As of Thursday, more than 2.38 million Kentuckians have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 5,500 having been vaccinated in the past 24 hours.During his “Team Kentucky” update, Governor Andy Beshear noted he hoped to continue to see those trends, as the rate of hospitalizations, ventilator implementation and intensive care unit occupancy have all increased exponentially in key locations across the Commonwealth.
Kentucky reported nearly 3,000 new positive cases on Wednesday, and Beshear added he expected that number to continue to increase by the end of the week.
His largest concern, at the moment, is the average age of hospital admission. Stacy Caudill, chief medical officer of Kings Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, said their rolling average had slipped from 75 years old to 55 years old in recent weeks, with a similar curve in mortality. She said of their current admissions to in her hospital, 94 percent were unvaccinated, and 100 percent of ICU patients were unvaccinated.
Caudill was one of many medical practitioners Beshear called to speak on Thursday, before he lobbied for everyone to drop any notions of partisan health.
Beshear’s comments come in near harmony of the Kentucky Board of Education’s special-called meeting on Thursday, in which its panel unanimously approved a state of emergency and a 270-day mask mandate within the Commonwealth’s schools — which overrides Beshear’s 30-day mandate announced earlier this week.
KBE Commissioner Jason Glass noted any emergency regulation can be rescinded, if the guidance from the Center for Disease Control changes during the time frame. The hope is masks won’t be necessary for the entire school year.
This move by the KBE all but renders Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s lawsuit moot. On Wednesday, he filed his concerns with the Kentucky Supreme Court, stating Beshear had again overstepped his governmental reach in failing to discuss mask mandates with the General Assembly.
Beshear briefly addressed the suit with a bit of zeal.
Beshear also noted that school systems do not have the power to override executive orders by use of House Bill 1.
From March 1 to August 11, more than 89 percent of new COVID-19 cases have reportedly come from unvaccinated individuals.
