Gov. Beshear: Safe Reopening Requires Patience, Planning and Perseverance

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 25, 2020) – On Saturday, Gov. Andy Beshear said Kentuckians must stay vigilant in the fight against the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in the commonwealth, even as we begin the first small step toward reopening on Monday.

“We will get through this; we will get through this together,” Gov. Beshear said. “The first step was a sacrifice. Now we have to plan and be patient. Last, we’ll need to persevere. This is going to be a challenge until a vaccine comes around, but I know our people are up for it.”

Unemployment insurance
The Governor said those who applied for unemployment in March should expect to hear from somebody this week. He said this is his administration and everyone is working hard to respond to the claims, which are greater than at any time in our history.

“I want to see significant progress this week and we will be providing updates,” Gov. Beshear said.

Testing sites and eligibility
In addition to some health care facilities, yesterday the Governor said that Kentuckians can now be tested free of charge for COVID-19 at many sites across the commonwealth. For more information on drive-through testing visit kycovid19.ky.gov. The Governor said that the Bowling Green location, which is in partnership with Kroger, is expanding through this Friday and an extra week of testing would be added.

Update on voting in the primary election
Friday, Gov. Beshear and Secretary of State Michael Adams announced new voting guidelines for the June primary. Click here for more information.

Reopening for health care providers and facilities
Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that Monday, April 27, the state will begin the gradual restart and reopening of our Phase 1 health care services and facilities, although they will operate very differently than they did before the outbreak of COVID-19. For full guidance on criteria for reopening and new best practices, click here.

“The virus sets the timing,” Gov. Beshear said. “While I think we have plateaued, we just have to make sure we take the next best right step. We need each and everyone’s best every single day. We must win. Every decision we make, lives are on the line. We could set ourselves back days or weeks without the following guidance.”

Healthy at Work
The administration is continuing to update the state’s website, HealthyAtWork.ky.gov, to make the Phase 2 process for reopening businesses clear. Healthy at Work is based on criteria set by public health experts and advice from industry experts. Phase 1 is a state-readiness evaluation. Phase 2 is the business-readiness evaluation. This phased approach will ensure the commonwealth’s citizens can safely return to work while still protecting the most vulnerable Kentuckians.

Census update
Kentucky moved up to 15th place for response rates across the nation, with 55.9% completion. Kentuckians can fill out their Census at my2020census.gov or by phone at 844-330-2020 (English) or 844-468-2020 (Spanish).

Case information
As of 5 p.m. April 25, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 3,905 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 171 of which were newly confirmed.

Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear also reported five new deaths Saturday, raising the state’s toll to 205 deaths related to the virus.

The deaths include a 79-year-old woman from Adair, an 88-year-old woman from Jefferson, a 93-year-old woman from Jefferson, an 87-year-old woman from Jefferson, and a 92-year old woman from Graves.

At least 1,501 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.

For additional information, including a complete list of positive cases to date, a count-by-county, race, and ethnicity percentages of cases and deaths, click here.

More information
Read about other key updates, actions, and information from Gov. Beshear and his administration at governor.ky.gov, kycovid19.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media account Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Kentuckians can also access translated COVID-19 information and daily summaries of the Governor’s news conference at tinyurl.com/kygovespanol (Spanish) and tinyurl.com/kygovtranslations (more than 20 additional languages).