Kentucky recorded 5,905 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and Sunday ending a week that saw its highest seven-day total since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March.
Of those cases over the weekend, 585 were in Boone, Kenton, Campbell, and Grant counties.
Pendleton County also recorded 30 cases over the two-day period, though that county is part of a different independent health district.
The week’s total in Kentucky shattered the previous weekly statewide record by 3,766 cases.
“This upcoming holiday week is a special time for all of our families, and I know everyone wants to have a normal Thanksgiving after such a difficult year,” said Governor Andy Beshear on Sunday. “I wish more than anything that we could go back to normal safely, but we can’t. In order to protect our only line of health care workers and all of our fellow Kentuckians, keep gatherings small (eight people or fewer and two households at most), wear a mask, wash your hands and stay six feet apart.
“If we have a major surge of COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving, our hospitals will simply not have the capacity to give everyone the care they need. Nothing is worth that risk.”
New requirements impact restaurants, bars, social gatherings, indoor fitness and recreation centers, venues and theaters, professional services and schools.
There are currently 1,533 people hospitalized in Kentucky with 389 in intensive care units and 208 on ventilators.
The state’s positivity rate Sunday stood at 9.19%.
-Staff report