LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the state's tenth highest daily case count since the pandemic started, reporting 4,009 new COVID-19 cases Friday.
Beshear said the state was reporting around 200 daily cases about one month ago. Now, there are 1,424 Kentuckians hospitalized with COVID. Nearly 400 people are reportedly in the ICU and 12 have died.
"I don't know how else to put this," Beshear said. "This is getting your friends, your family members, your neighbors sick. Some of them aren't going to make it."
The governor emphasized the importance of masks and vaccines, saying it is time for Kentuckians "to get serious."
"We've got to prove that we care more about one another than we care about things we see on cable news," Beshear said. "Do the right thing."
The message comes just one day after the governor joined officials from health care systems across the state, explaining the rapid rise in cases due to the delta variant. Around 90% of COVID patients in the Louisville area have not been vaccinated.
"It's real. If you're not vaccinated, it's coming for you," Beshear said Thursday. "We want to protect you, we want to stop it from spreading, we want to stop it from killing people. Please get vaccinated."
Beshear said hospitals are filling up, or entirely full, across the state. The Kentucky Hospital Association said some hospitals are starting to cancel elective surgeries.
Norton Healthcare is currently treating 129 COVID-19 patients, more than half of the hospital’s all-time high of 221 patients with COVID-19 in December 2020. That surge was prior to monoclonal antibody treatments and vaccines.
"As the number of COVID patients increase, our hospital systems across the country could be overwhelmed and we're seeing that,” UofL Health's Chief Nurse Executive Cindy Lucchese said. “It's impacting our ability to care for all patients."
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