FRANKFORT, Ky. — For the second straight day, Gov. Andy Beshear announced a record-breaking number of new COVID-19 cases across Kentucky.
On Friday, Kentucky reported 3,825 new cases of coronavirus and 20 virus-related deaths, including a 74-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man from Boone County and an 88-year-old woman from Campbell County.
The state also surpassed a grim milestone with 152,206 total positive COVID-19 cases and 1,762 total deaths since the pandemic began in March.
“This is exponential growth. It is shattering records over and over until we stop it. That’s why we are taking action – we have to,” Beshear said in a release Friday. “We’ve got more than 10,000 students quarantined right now just based on the last two weeks alone. We’ve got to do so much better."
As of Friday at 5 p.m., extensive new restrictions are in effect across Kentucky, including closing restaurants and bars to indoor dining, limiting capacity at indoor venues, gyms and other businesses, and asking Kentuckians to cap home gatherings to eight people from no more than two households.
Starting Monday, all K-12 public and private schools will be required to suspend in-person learning and move classes online. Public universities have also pledged to move instruction online, Beshear said.
These restrictions are in effect through Dec. 13 at 11:59 p.m., and the governor has not yet said whether they could be extended if the most recent COVID-19 surge does not subside.
Kentucky's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate dipped slightly to 9.15% from a record-high 9.18% on Thursday. Kentucky has administered more than 2.5 million COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began and more than 25,728 people have reportedly recovered from coronavirus.
According to NKY Health, 9,183 people across Boone, Kenton, Campbell and Grant counties have tested positive for COVID-19, and 116 people locally have died of the virus. The health department reports 4,323 active cases and 4,744 people who have recovered from coronavirus on Friday.
Find free COVID-19 testing in NKY
In Northern Kentucky, St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Covington's Gravity Diagnostics offer free, appointment-only drive-thru testing at 25 Atlantic Ave in Erlanger, the former Toyota HQ building off Mineola Pike.
The site is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. You will be able to collect your own sample without leaving your vehicle and receive results within three to five days.
Additionally, appointment-only drive-up testing is available through St. E at 7200 Alexandria Pike, Alexandria. The free testing site is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Schedule an appointment at those sites online atwww.stelizabeth.com/covid-testing. To find all coronavirus testing locations near you,click here.
