Gov. Andy Beshear marked a grave milestone during his COVID press briefing on Wednesday: More than 1,000 Kentuckians have died as a result of the coronavirus. With the 16 new deaths reported on Wednesday, the total lives lost in the Commonwealth is 1,013.
“We’ve hit a tough and unfortunate milestone in Kentucky,” he said. “We have the painful news that we have now lost over 1,000 Kentuckians — our mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, sisters, brothers, neighbors — to COVID-19.
The governor noted that the lives lost number less than in other states, and said “that’s a testament to the people of Kentucky and the actions that they’ve taken.”
“But it’s hard to be proud and excited about this news,” he continued.
In order to honor those who have died, Beshear hosted a wreath-laying ceremony in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning, placed by members of the Kentucky State Police Honor Guard.
“It will be an opportunity for those families and all Kentuckians to express the pain and the grief that we feel and to honor the people we’ve lost,” he said.
He has also ordered all the flags on state buildings to fly at half-staff from sunrise Thursday, Sept. 10 through sunset on Wednesday, Sept. 16. He encouraged businesses and others to follow suit.
“Families across Kentucky are hurting as a result of the tragic losses brought by this pandemic. We are lighting our homes and businesses green and ringing our bells daily for these victims, but this is one more way we can show our support for these members of our community as they mourn their loved ones,” he said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there had been 53,977 total coronavirus cases confirmed in Kentucky, with 667 newly reported cases that day. Of those new cases, 88 were in children under the age of 18; the youngest confirmed COVID patient was 2 months old. The state’s positivity rate is currently 3.84%.
Beshear said that the White House Coronavirus Task Force says that Kentucky should continue its statewide mask mandate, with the report stating, “Kentucky is in the red zone for cases, indicating more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week, with the 19th highest rate in the country.”
Beshear shared one story of a life lost to COVID during the briefing.
“Yesterday, we lost EJ Mike, a 58-year-old front line worker. He was a physician’s assistant at Louisville VA Medical Center. But more important, he was a loving father to his twin girls, who are only 13. EJ fought hard for six weeks at Norton Brownsboro, during which time he was on a ventilator,” he said.
“We spoke to a friend and read online messages from co-workers and loved ones who called EJ an inspiration and an amazing person who always put others before himself. Our thoughts and prayers are with his two daughters, his family, friends and the community he built at the Louisville VA.”
Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, echoed the impact of the loss of all Kentuckians and all Americans who have died as a result of the virus.
“In the United States of America, in roughly the last six months, more than 190,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. To put that in context, the city of Louisville is about 620,000 or so, so it’s like 30% of the city of Louisville has died in the last six months across the country,” he said.
“People talk about the numbers, where there are inconsistent or where there are accuracies, but deaths are pretty clear. The implications to the United States of America are pretty substantial and profound. Now in Kentucky, today we crossed over a big milestone, with over 1,000 Kentuckians who’ve lost their lives from the coronavirus. And that’s a tragedy and a tragedy for their families. It’s a smaller tragedy than we might otherwise have had had we not taken the steps over the last six months we would have had larger totals like they’ve had in other states and in other areas. So I’m grateful that we’ve had the opportunity to blunt the harm but the harm that’s happened is substantial nonetheless.”
Find more information at govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19.
This article appears in The Meaning of Monuments.