Capitol to Calloway

Capitol

Sunday

Gov. Andy Beshear announced 202 new coronavirus cases and three deaths in Kentucky during his press briefing on Sunday.

While Beshear believes Kentucky is plateauing in cases, restrictions will be slowly removed to prevent a resurgence of cases.

“We’re going to do this in a gradual, measured way,” Beshear said. “But I’m going to make the very best decisions I can treating your family like they are my family.”

Phase One of reopening begins on Monday with some healthcare facilities, as employees are better prepared to prevent infection.

“Healthcare is the place to start because it’s the people who are best trained at dealing with potential contagion,” Beshear said. “We’re starting in healthcare where people can be very cognizant of what they’re able to do to stop it.” 

Saturday

Gov. Andy Beshear announced 171 new coronavirus cases and five deaths in Kentucky during his press briefing on Saturday.

During Beshear’s address, the muffled voices of Capitol protestors were present in the live stream.

“There are no perfect decisions, and we’re doing the best we can,” Beshear said. “Our goal here has to be to do this right. We should all want to do it right. The decisions that we make, and when we make them, are the difference between life and death.”

Phase One of reopening some health care facilities will begin Monday.

The new guidelines allow health care practitioners to resume non-urgent/emergent health care services, diagnostic radiology and lab services in:

• Hospital outpatient setting
• Health care clinics and medical offices
• Physical therapy settings, chiropractic offices and optometrists
• Dental offices (but with enhanced aerosol protections)

Beshear believes reopening by starting with the healthcare industry is the right thing to do because of their knowledge of how to handle contagions, as well as their access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and thermometers.

Beshear will continue reopening other sectors of the economy as the below benchmarks are being met.

Friday

Gov. Andy Beshear announced 11 new COVID-19 drive-thru testing locations, with one location being Murray-Calloway County Hospital (MCCH).

Tests will be administered Monday-Friday at MCCH from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to first responders, healthcare workers, and those with coronavirus symptoms. Participants must register for testing by calling 270-753-0704.

Friday’s 322 new cases are the most Kentucky has confirmed in a single day thus far. Two of those new cases are from Calloway County.

Nine new reported deaths bring the coronavirus death toll to 200 Kentuckians. However, over 1,341 Kentuckians have recovered from COVID-19 since the first reported case.

With over 300,000 unemployment claims being processed each week, state officials have employed almost 1,000 new hotline operators.

“I’m hopeful next week we’re going to be able to provide some really good news to those individuals who’ve been waiting far too long,” Josh Benton, Department Secretary for the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet said. “We’re working day and night on that, especially our IT team.”

Beshear also plans to release an additional 352 state inmates that have been convicted of non-violent, non-sexual crimes, are near the end of their sentence, and are at risk of contracting COVID-19.

“This isn’t something that we take lightly,” Beshear said. “But we know this virus can get in these facilities. In a worldwide pandemic, we have to take these kinds of steps to protect our people.”

Calloway

COVID-19

As of Sunday at 4 p.m., Calloway County Health Department received notification of the county’s twenty-ninth confirmed case of coronavirus. Additional information about the persons could not be released because of medical privacy laws. 

Board of Regents

During Friday’s meeting, the Murray State University Board of Regents approved maintaining the current tuition rate for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year. More information can be found in this press release.

Virtual Senior Breakfast

Murray State will host a virtual senior breakfast on Wednesday, April 29, at 8:30 am CST. Students can tune in by going to murraystate.edu/streaming.

Racers Helping Racers Food Pantry

Murray State students needing food assistance will continue to receive support from the Racers Helping Racers food pantry. Students can fill out this form to receive aid.

Murray and Calloway Schools Change Calendar

The Murray Independent and Calloway County boards of education voted for students’ final instruction day to be May 8. The schools were able to adjust their calendars when Gov. Beshear announced NTI days counted for 420 minutes towards the total of 1,062 hours of education per academic year.