Four more COVID-19-related deaths were confirmed in Northern Kentucky on Tuesday, along with 20 additional cases of the respiratory virus that is part of a global pandemic.
Also on Tuesday, Governor Andy Beshear said that it appears that Kentucky has reached a plateau in its number of confirmed coronavirus cases.
The Northern Kentucky Health Department reported that the latest victims to succumb to COVID-19 are a Grant County resident in their 70s, two Kenton County residents in their 60s and 80s, respectively, and a Campbell County resident in their 70s.
27 people in Northern Kentucky have died since the virus began to spread.
The additional 20 cases in the four-county region mark a total of 306 cases.
As states begin to consider or even implement a reopening of their economies, which have been largely shuttered by the virus and the social-distancing mandates to mitigate its spread, the health department said that safe practices should continue.
“There is evidence that we have been able to decrease the spread of COVID-19 by staying healthy at home, and we must continue. In the absence of an approved treatment and vaccine, it is the best tool we have to fight COVID-19 in our community,” said Dr. Lynne Saddler, Northern Kentucky district director of health.
In his daily update on Tuesday, Beshear announced 177 newly confirmed cases around the state and 17 additional deaths. 3,192 people in Kentucky have tested positive for the virus and 171 have died as of Tuesday, the governor said.Â
More than 33,000 people have been tested. Beshear said that during his briefing to the public on Wednesday, there would be more information on increased testing capacity.
1,076 people confirmed to have COVID-19 at some point have been hospitalized, with 286 people currently in a hospital, Beshear said. 558 of those people have been placed at some point in an intensive care unit, with 165 patients currently in an ICU.
1,266 people have recovered from the virus.
Beshear said that the 177 new cases represent that “we have likely plateaued” and the state’s numbers are neither increasing nor decreasing each day. “It, at least, lets us know where we think we are subject to what we learn every day,” he said.
-Michael Monks, editor & publisher
Photo:Â Licking River (RCN file)