Paige Bold
Contributing Writer
The Calloway County Health Department announced on Tuesday the 53rd case of COVID-19, just one of the 245 newly confirmed cases around the state.
Gov. Beshear said in his daily press briefing that there were at least 11, 708 confirmed cases to date in Kentucky.
“These new cases are a reminder that this virus is everywhere in Kentucky, and we need to continue to follow the good practices that we know help us manage this virus,” the Governor said.
Beshear also reported five new deaths Tuesday, raising the total to 477 Kentuckians lost to the virus.
The deaths reported include an 82-year-old man from Barren County; a 69-year-old woman from Jefferson County; a 53-year-old woman from McCracken County; a 58-year-old man from Shelby County; and a 95-year-old man from Warren County.
“We continue to lose Kentuckians of all ages, and it continues to be a time when our compassion is needed,” Beshear said. “Even with everything else going on in the world, let’s make sure we have enough compassion for these families that have lost someone.”
At least 3,365 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus. For additional information, including up-to-date lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here.
Racial Disparities in Health Care
Gov. Beshear on Tuesday offered more details about an effort he is launching to address racial disparities in health care in the Commonwealth.
“I believe that health care is a basic human right. I made a pledge that we would work to sign up every Kentuckian for some form of health coverage,” Beshear said.
He noted that he took early steps to rescind the previous administration’s Medicaid waiver, which would have taken coverage from 90,000 people. In addition, Beshear also made a budget proposal for health care coverage for children, but the legislature did not include that in the budget.
“COVID-19 has shown us where our health care priorities need to be, in terms of where we begin providing this type of coverage,” Beshear said. “Our African-American population is dying at twice the rate than is forecasted by population.”
He said nearly 20,000 black Kentuckians lack health insurance.
“We have an obligation to make sure that members of our African-American communities are able to sign up for health care coverage right away,” Beshear said. “There is a long history of racial inequality in health care. The coronavirus is making that more clear than ever.”
Goc. Beshear’s goal is to make sure that everybody has coverage either through Medicaid, expanded Medicaid or the private market.
Capacity Limits Rise
Gov. Beshear said Tuesday that industries that currently are operating under capacity limits soon will see those restrictions eased.
“All of our industries that right now have a capacity limit, like retail at 33%, restaurants and others – at the month date, where they’ve been operating for a month under that 33%, we are going to increase that capacity to 50%,” Beshear said.
He said compliance with Healthy at Work guidelines and other requirements remain key to keeping establishments open.
Kentucky State Fair
Gov. Beshear announced Tuesday that the administration approved a proposal to allow the Kentucky State Fair to take place.
“We have approved the State Fair proposal,” Beshear said. “It will look very different this year, but the main thing is that we are keeping the agricultural competition and so many of the things that make the fair great. However, the fair will not be able to use the portion of the Expo Center that houses our state field hospital. We are nowhere close to needing it, but we do not want to take it down and then need it later.”
Louisville Shooting Investigation
Michael Brown, secretary for the Governor’s Executive Cabinet, spoke Tuesday about the ongoing investigation into the shooting death of David McAtee.
“The Kentucky State Police is going to do a frame-by-frame review, that’s going to be more than 3,000 frames,” Brown said. “Previously, I reported that David McAtee appears to have succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the chest, and that remains our conclusion. Tonight I’m providing some further details on our findings: First, we have been conclusively able to identify the type of weapon that fired the fatal shot; second, we have identified that the 9 millimeter pistol seen in the videos with Mr. McAtee and found at the scene had fired at least two shots that evening; lastly, I’ll report to you that David McAtee had gunshot residue on his person from that evening.”
Secretary Brown also said that the bullet fragments did not match a particular rifle. The only agency that has access to that type of caliber and ammunition is the Kentucky National Guard.
Secretary Brown said the forensic evidence showed McAtee had a 9mm handgun and had fired the weapon at least twice.
“We have no doubt about that Mr. McAtee’s weapon was tested and the shell casings we found outside the door came from that weapon,” Brown said.
Brown said that McAtee was tested for gunshot residue and those reports came back positive.
“One of the particles found was consistent with a firearms discharge,” Brown said. “Five other particles were consistent with him either handling or being around a weapon that had been discharged.”
Absentee Ballot Application Portal Online
Beshear is encouraging all voters to use a new Absentee Ballot Application Portal now available online. A link to the State Board of Elections’ portal can be found here. He urged everyone who plans to vote in the primary election to go to the portal and request an absentee mail-in ballot. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is June 15.
Gov. Beshear will give his daily press briefing to update the new COVID-19 totals at 3 p.m. today. The News will post the brief live on our Facebook page.
