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Notes and Highlights of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s Live Update January 4, 2021
Notes by mr_tyler_durden and Daily Update Team
Watch here:

• Youtube: Update (YT Channel)
• Facebook: Update (FB Page)

Headlines

• 279,143 Cases (+2,319), 2,749 Deaths (+26)
• New cases by county: 429x Jefferson, 170x Fayette, 102x Boyd, 80x Kenton, 76x Warren, 71x Pulaski, 66x Boone, 59x Bullitt, 59x Henderson, 57x Pike, 52x Oldham, 51x Logan, 47x Campbell, 41x Madison, 40x Daviess, 36x Greenup, 35x Harlan, 32x Marshall, 30x Crittenden, 30x Muhlenberg, 27x Graves, 26x Boyle, 26x Whitley, 25x Scott, 25x Shelby, 22x McCracken, 22x Taylor, 19x Jessamine, 19x Simpson, 18x Anderson, 18x Clinton, 17x Hopkins, 16x Harrison, 16x Perry, 16x Webster, 15x Floyd, 15x Knox, 14x Leslie, 14x Letcher, 14x Ohio, 12x Clark, 12x Hardin, 12x Johnson, 12x Knott, 12x Union, 11x Carter, 11x Cumberland, 11x Rockcastle, 10x Caldwell, 9x Christian, 9x Grant, 9x Lawrence, 8x Bourbon, 8x Montgomery, 8x Nelson, 8x Trigg, 7x Carroll, 7x Franklin, 7x Grayson, 7x Green, 7x Livingston, 7x Wayne, 7x Woodford, 6x Bell, 6x Clay, 6x Hancock, 6x Laurel, 6x Mercer, 6x Nicholas, 6x Powell, 5x Casey, 5x Gallatin, 5x Garrard, 5x Magoffin, 5x Pendleton, 5x Rowan, 5x Trimble, 4x Adair, 4x Estill, 4x Fleming, 4x Lincoln, 4x McCreary, 4x Monroe, 4x Morgan, 4x Spencer, 4x Wolfe, 3x Allen, 3x Ballard, 3x Barren, 3x Butler, 3x Elliott, 3x Hart, 3x Henry, 3x McLean, 3x Todd, 2x Calloway, 2x Jackson, 2x Lee, 2x Metcalfe, 2x Russell, 2x Washington, 1x Breathitt, 1x Edmonson, 1x Hickman, 1x Lewis, 1x Lyon, 1x Meade, 1x Menifee, 1x Owen, 1x Robertson
• New deaths by county: 79 F Boone, 81 M Boone, 54 F Boyle, 73 F Campbell, 84 F Campbell, 92 F Campbell, 72 M Campbell, 92 M Franklin, 70 F Gallatin, 40 M Grant, 70 M Grant, 95 F Jefferson, 72 M Jefferson, 78 M Jefferson, 92 M Jefferson, 66 F Kenton, 74 F Kenton, 99 F Kenton, 102 F Kenton, 86 M Kenton, 88 M Kenton, 90 M Kenton, 82 F Lewis, 65 M Marshall, 89 F Simpson, 64 M Simpson
• So let's start with our stair stepper chart on cases, we can see that this last week was higher certainly than the week before, but of course lower than our peak from-- oh, about five weeks ago, when we were seeing that exponential growth.<...> We do have real concerns that people's behavior and getting together, especially over the Christmas holiday in informal gatherings where masks are not worn, will increase cases that we see over the coming weeks. And what that means is we just need the very best out of people moving forward. <...>Positivity rate, this is concerning when you look at this big jump. <...>When we look at the inpatient census it is up a little bit from where it's been the last couple of weeks but still in that general plateau that we hit really in mid- to late- November. <...> ICU is just about the same, again, increasing over the last week, certainly, but where it goes from here again, we will be watching.COVID patients on a ventilator, were up over yesterday, again we're down over several weeks ago. When we look at the hospital capacity by region which we've been showing you, that's that map, we've gone from two to four regions that are in the red. Region 10, certainly a concern with 95.6% of the ICU beds filled. Now obviously if you just go over to 4, while it’s in the red, at 83.3% is a lot different than its neighbor.<...>
• Vaccine: So this was the amount that was allocated in December. Now some of that last part of December is still coming in. So there's a difference between what's been allocated and what's been received as it is logged into the system.<...>What we will do right now is every Monday we're going to provide a vaccine update. And we are not going to be updating the vaccine numbers every day, online, until we believe that they are accurate, until we've got that reporting coming in.<...>So we have had two January allocations as well. One from Pfizer, the vast majority of this is going into long term care. <...>So, of what's been allocated, our numbers as of today, and again, there is a reporting lag, there is no question, is that about 174,750 doses have been received, by either the long term care program or the healthcare worker program. And out of those, this was, I think, accurate as of yesterday- I don't think we'll get today's in until tomorrow, total doses- and they should be total people- that have been vaccinated 60,414.
• Dr. Stack: This is the phase planning for all the rest of the population. <...> Now, for the first time today you're seeing in Kentucky our category 1C, 2, 3 and 4. 1C aligns with what the CDC had said for all the rest of 1B plus 1C. And we even lowered the age, so 1C is people 60 and over, people who are 16 and over with any of the highest risk, see COVID-19 conditions- that is published on the CDC website. <...> By the time we get to phase 2, that's anyone 40 or over who wants to get vaccinated, and by the time we get to phase 3, it's anyone 16 or over, because people under 16 are not eligible for the vaccine now because they're not authorized by the FDA. And so people under 16 are in category 4 because they're not even eligible to get this, and it's probably about 18% or so of the population which has over 800,000 people. <...> So, because focusing on priorities is important to try to get the highest risk people, we're still going to ask every vaccination site to use the priorities and stick with that.
• Your response to a certain school district in the greater Louisville area that has not included AP courses and virtual learning options when in-person classes are set to begin January 11th. -- That is a requirement for in-person classes, under an executive order. If you do not do it you're not only in violation of that order, but you may be making immunocompromised kids come in, because of the pressure you're placing on their future to a place where they are not safe. We said we want to get schools open in red counties, to do that safely means those kids that it's not safe for them to come back to school or those whose parents don't think it's safe, don't lose out on educational opportunities. Whatever school district this is, and I don't know it, it's your responsibility, it's in the order, we expect you to live up to it.
• I wanted to ask you a general assembly question, which the session starts tomorrow. And a couple weeks ago, I counted on time prefiled bills aimed at limiting executive authority. With the republican super majorities in both chambers is there anything that you can do to stop that and do you believe it will backfire on Republicans? -- I believe that we are in the midst of a pandemic that is killing people and the more limitations that a General Assembly wants to place on me, that other states don't have, leave us less equipped to fight the virus. It means we won't save as many lives, which means it'll take longer to defeat the virus meaning it'll take longer to fully open our economy again to where our small businesses can have full capacity. It'll take longer, it will be a direct result of any bills passing that limit that authority. But what I'll also say is that the Supreme Court, when they cited in our favor in a unanimous decision over the case filed by the Attorney General, talked about the constitutional nature of these powers and I think we're sending up a signal that what the General Assembly may do, could be unconstitutional.
• Folks who have allergies, there are some who should not be getting the vaccine. Can you or the doctor tell me what those allergies are that folks shouldn't be getting the vaccine? -- Yeah, let's send that one to Dr Stack.
  • [...] So, emergency use authorization says that people who have had severe reactions to injectable vaccines or injectable medications should exercise increased caution before receiving the vaccination. So that's a relatively small or tiny portion of the general public. So, if you have had serious reactions to injectable medications in the past, before you get your vaccination, make sure you discuss it with the healthcare providers who are at the vaccine site, so that you can be properly informed, and they can work with you on an individual basis to determine your risk, and then recommend to you what seems to be safest and in your best interests.
• Slides from Update

Full Notes

• Good afternoon everybody. Good afternoon, Virginia. Happy 2021. This is certainly going to be a better year than 2020. It's four o'clock, the time that three days a week we get together and remember that we're going to get through this, we're going to get through this together. In fact, in the year 2021, we're going to defeat the Coronavirus, and that is going to be an amazing accomplishment. 2021 offers us the possibility of so much more. This is going to be the year where we determine our place in the post-COVID world and in the post-COVID economy, our opportunities in the second half of this year may be greater than we ever imagined. A world where the density of New York or LA is no longer attractive, a world where more people can work remotely, a world where Kentucky has more chances than ever before. And what we're seeing as other states right now already planning for that post-COVID world. So I hope, up here in Frankfort, that we're going to spend the first part of this year, where we're in a session, but also on the administrative side, making sure we truly take advantage of the opportunities in front of us, so that we can lead and not follow, create the jobs of tomorrow, not chase the jobs of yesterday, where we can be everything we ever wanted, instead of just sitting back, watching others, and then seeing if we can copy what they do, which means will always be steps behind. We have true opportunity in 2021. But before we can move into those opportunities we still have to defeat this virus and things are still going to be tough until we are able to get this vaccination out to everyone who is willing to take it. And along the way, we're going to have to continue our programs that help build confidence in that vaccine, showing that it is safe and showing it's effective, we're gonna continue to do that.
• Today we're going to start looking at the last week, some of the information we don't have enough context, yet, because we have had two holiday weeks where a number of drive-thru testing locations have been closed and a number of other things have reported slower like the major national labs. After that, we're going to talk about today's report and then we're going to talk specifically about vaccination. We're going to provide you more-- in fact, all-- of the priority groups here in Kentucky. Dr Stack is going to talk through our new goals, because we’ve got to get these things out faster, and I'll talk about that in a minute. I'm not okay with the pace that they are currently being provided. We have too many people out there that are rightfully anxious, and they need to see, well, this whole country pick up the pace, we're certainly going to do it here in Kentucky.
• So let's start with our stair stepper chart on cases, we can see that this last week was higher certainly than the week before, but of course lower than our peak from-- oh, about five weeks ago, when we were seeing that exponential growth. It's hard to know how much of this week might otherwise have been in the week before, which we thought was artificially low, but it is going to take a little bit of time to see exactly where this trend is going. In good news, we think some of what we saw this last week was probably reports coming in again from that prior week, where you see the really big dip. We do have real concerns that people's behavior and getting together, especially over the Christmas holiday in informal gatherings where masks are not worn, will increase cases that we see over the coming weeks. And what that means is we just need the very best out of people moving forward. Whether you did it right and kept things within your family or really small or whether you did it wrong, and did it in large groups where COVID spreads, we need your very best right now and in the months to come.
• Positivity rate, this is concerning when you look at this big jump. Now there are a couple of things that we think are at work here. Most of the testing, where people who are asymptomatic get tested, and when you test asymptomatic folks a smaller percentage of them have it, than where you go if you're symptomatic. Because if you think you have COVID and you go to the hospital, where most symptomatic folks go, well, that positivity rate is higher. A lot of our asymptomatic testing, including our surge testing from the federal government and others, was closed numerous days during the last two weeks. And what that would mean is the sites where the positivity rate is the lowest, were not open as many days. Now that probably doesn't account for all of the growth that we see here. Again, part of it is probably Christmas, is how COVID spread in some small gatherings; maybe we may continue to see this through New Year’s. Now we'll have to see from the data I don't think the rise is this dramatic, but we are probably seeing, at least a rise in the positivity rate, something again we're going to have to follow very carefully.
• When we look at the inpatient census it is up a little bit from where it's been the last couple of weeks but still in that general plateau that we hit really in mid- to late- November. We're gonna have to watch this carefully to make sure that that line going up doesn't continue to increase this week, and through the next week.
• ICU is just about the same, again, increasing over the last week, certainly, but where it goes from here again, we will be watching.
• COVID patients on a ventilator, were up over yesterday, again we're down over several weeks ago.
• When we look at the hospital capacity by region which we've been showing you, that's that map, we've gone from two to four regions that are in the red. Region 10, certainly a concern with 95.6% of the ICU beds filled. Now obviously if you just go over to 4, while it’s in the red, at 83.3% is a lot different than its neighbor. We have region 7 which is in the red for inpatient beds, but not ICU. And area 8 which has been in and out of the red again for ICU. We believe we still have hospital capacity. This shouldn't necessarily sound the alarm, but it should tell us that where we are continues to be fragile. That in just one week of not doing the things we need to do we can give up gains that we fought and we sacrificed, week after week to achieve. That's what this virus is, it just waits for you to get tired, it waits for you to let your guard down, , and then it springs into action and can spread so fast, so fast that that month's worth of work can be wiped out pretty quickly so let's remember that and make sure that we continue to do the things, each and every day, that we need to to defeat this virus. Remember we're gonna beat it. We're gonna win. The question is how many people we're going to lose along the way? How many people are going to have long term symptoms and complications and difficulties coming out of it? How many of our young people may suffer from the microcardia that is afflicting some of our young people? How much damage is going to be done between now and when we have enough vaccine out there to reach immunity? I want to make sure that we keep that damage as small as possible, that we lose as few people as possible, that takes effort, takes commitment, and that takes continued resiliency.
• Positive cases today: 2,319 - Today's reports are higher than the last several weeks. In fact this is the highest Monday that we've had with 2,319 cases. Again, we'll be watching, especially moving into next week, on how many of these Monday cases may have been backed up in the system from really two holiday weekends in a row.
• Probable cases: 524
• Total confirmed cases: 279,143
• Children Under 18: 291
• New cases by county: 429x Jefferson, 170x Fayette, 102x Boyd, 80x Kenton, 76x Warren, 71x Pulaski, 66x Boone, 59x Bullitt, 59x Henderson, 57x Pike, 52x Oldham, 51x Logan, 47x Campbell, 41x Madison, 40x Daviess, 36x Greenup, 35x Harlan, 32x Marshall, 30x Crittenden, 30x Muhlenberg, 27x Graves, 26x Boyle, 26x Whitley, 25x Scott, 25x Shelby, 22x McCracken, 22x Taylor, 19x Jessamine, 19x Simpson, 18x Anderson, 18x Clinton, 17x Hopkins, 16x Harrison, 16x Perry, 16x Webster, 15x Floyd, 15x Knox, 14x Leslie, 14x Letcher, 14x Ohio, 12x Clark, 12x Hardin, 12x Johnson, 12x Knott, 12x Union, 11x Carter, 11x Cumberland, 11x Rockcastle, 10x Caldwell, 9x Christian, 9x Grant, 9x Lawrence, 8x Bourbon, 8x Montgomery, 8x Nelson, 8x Trigg, 7x Carroll, 7x Franklin, 7x Grayson, 7x Green, 7x Livingston, 7x Wayne, 7x Woodford, 6x Bell, 6x Clay, 6x Hancock, 6x Laurel, 6x Mercer, 6x Nicholas, 6x Powell, 5x Casey, 5x Gallatin, 5x Garrard, 5x Magoffin, 5x Pendleton, 5x Rowan, 5x Trimble, 4x Adair, 4x Estill, 4x Fleming, 4x Lincoln, 4x McCreary, 4x Monroe, 4x Morgan, 4x Spencer, 4x Wolfe, 3x Allen, 3x Ballard, 3x Barren, 3x Butler, 3x Elliott, 3x Hart, 3x Henry, 3x McLean, 3x Todd, 2x Calloway, 2x Jackson, 2x Lee, 2x Metcalfe, 2x Russell, 2x Washington, 1x Breathitt, 1x Edmonson, 1x Hickman, 1x Lewis, 1x Lyon, 1x Meade, 1x Menifee, 1x Owen, 1x Robertson
• Total tests conducted: 3,504,553 (PCR: 3,224,871, Serology: 102,490)
• Positivity Rate: 11.18% - We talked about this, we're going to be watching it. We can't tell you definitively right now, whether this has been, again, inflated by what testing is open or not, or as a result of private gatherings over the holidays. We think it is some of both, but it's going to take days for the data to show us the truth.
• Total hospitalized: 13,794
• Currently hospitalized: 1,737 - That's up
• Total in ICU: 3,092
• Currently in ICU: 456 - That's up
• On a ventilator: 216 - That's up over yesterday again when we saw the trend lines still down, compared to other, other times
• Total recovered: 37,455
• New deaths today: 26 - Hard day with 26 deaths
• Total Deaths: 2,749
• New deaths by county: 79 F Boone, 81 M Boone, 54 F Boyle, 73 F Campbell, 84 F Campbell, 92 F Campbell, 72 M Campbell, 92 M Franklin, 70 F Gallatin, 40 M Grant, 70 M Grant, 95 F Jefferson, 72 M Jefferson, 78 M Jefferson, 92 M Jefferson, 66 F Kenton, 74 F Kenton, 99 F Kenton, 102 F Kenton, 86 M Kenton, 88 M Kenton, 90 M Kenton, 82 F Lewis, 65 M Marshall, 89 F Simpson, 64 M Simpson
• All losses are a loss for Kentucky. Let’s light those houses up green and let’s ring those bells at 10am. This is a reminder that we are thinking of the Kentuckians we’ve lost, their families, and their communities. It’s the color of compassion and renewal as their souls move from their bodies to a better place.
• Racial breakdown of all cases: 83.9% White, 9.4% Black, 5.1% Multiracial, 1.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander
• Ethnicity breakdown of all cases: 95.1% Non-Hispanic, 4.9% Hispanic
• Racial breakdown of all deaths: 87.1% White, 9.4% Black, 2.7% Multiracial, 0.7% Asian, 0.1% American Indian
• Ethnicity breakdown of all deaths: 97.9% Non-Hispanic, 2.1% Hispanic
• Long Term Care Facilities (PDF): 105 new residents and 126 new staff positive from yesterday, and 37 more deaths. This is the reason that long term care residents and staff are in the very first group because the magnitude of lost there
  • Total facilities: 228
  • Total deaths: 1858
  • Active cases: 1350 residents, 737 staff
  • Total cases: 15971 residents, 11275 staff
• K-12 Update (PDF): PDF update only
• University Update (PDF): PDF update only
• Folks, the only way that we can stop this now is to stop the community spread. It's what we are doing in our communities or what we're not doing. It's not following the rules and regulations enough, not wearing a mask, not engaging in social distancing, not being careful that ultimately costs the lives of individuals in these facilities. Please, these are real people. This is just in long term care: 1,858 people that have passed away because we couldn't keep COVID out of the facility because of community spread. We just need to do better.
• And speaking of, I think that's a fair way to characterize the vaccine rollout across the country. A number of things that I believe the federal government underestimated. First, the amount of time for each individual vaccination that's done. It takes signing somebody up and getting the consent form. It takes asking several questions to ensure that you're not giving the vaccine to someone who might have a severe reaction or had a fever, all those questions, then it takes the vaccination itself, and some form of monitoring for a certain period thereafter. So this isn't something, when you think about that, what eight to 10 minutes per individual at least? That one person working a normal workday can hit the type of numbers that we need to hit to get people vaccinated out there. I think a couple of other things that were underestimated by the federal government and that's when you have a really narrow first group, which we did, and I understand why, and especially on the hospital side, if each vial has been allocated to individuals, when the group is smaller, there appears to be less urgency to get it out to those individuals because you know that they're going to get one, because of the way it's been set up. But we need to move faster. We need those that have already received the vaccine to move faster. We need our partners in long term care to move faster. So today, we're going to talk about some changes that we're making, providing some additional clarification so if we ever have one of those two stores- one in Lexington and one in Louisville, that thaw too much again, they know exactly what populations should get it. And then you're going to see in the coming days we're going to be pushing harder and harder and harder to get these vaccines in people's arms so much faster, and we're going to really be building up larger operations that we can get more people through. So, let me be clear, I am not satisfied by the pace of vaccination here in Kentucky. While I think it is the same across the country that's not what I was elected to do. I was elected to do my best for you, the people of Kentucky, and we are going to do better.
• So let's look at what has been allocated. This doesn't mean it's been received in Kentucky, we've gone over this before. So this was the amount that was allocated in December. Now some of that last part of December is still coming in. So there's a difference between what's been allocated and what's been received as it is logged into the system. Let me also say we have delays in reporting, and each and every part of this system, so I know when we talk about the number of vaccinated today it's higher. Now groups that are vaccinating are supposed to report within 24 hours every vaccination. That target is not being hit and so we're going to be communicating to each and every one of those providers that that is a must, and that is a requirement to get additional doses of vaccine. We have got to have better data and that's from both our long term care program and what's currently the health care worker program. We're not gonna stop until we have it and until we have it daily. What we will do right now is every Monday we're going to provide a vaccine update. And we are not going to be updating the vaccine numbers every day, online, until we believe that they are accurate, until we've got that reporting coming in. We believe if we do weekly right now, it can be accurate and the moment we believe that we are getting those reports in, within 24 hours, we will move back to daily. But we want to make sure that what we're telling you is as accurate as we can get it.
• So we have had two January allocations as well. One from Pfizer, the vast majority of this is going into long term care. And when I talk about some numbers in a minute, you'll see that of the doses received by our long term care partners only about 20% have thus far gotten into individuals arms. But under a contract with the federal government to have this program going, to even have the vaccinations that are occurring right now, we have to send a certain portion to them. That means it's going to be really important in our partnership with CVS and Walgreens, that we do a couple things. One thing that we've already reached out, is we are offering individuals, more people including the National Guard, to supplement and in fact, add to their teams. We want to make sure that we can multiply their man and woman power, so we can do more faster. Again, we have made that offer, we're going to push. I'll let you know when we get our response, how many teams that lets us add, how that lets us impact our schedule. But I'm telling you in real time what I've been pushing to make sure that we can move this thing, faster.
• So, of what's been allocated, our numbers as of today, and again, there is a reporting lag, there is no question, is that about 174,750 doses have been received, by either the long term care program or the healthcare worker program. And out of those, this was, I think, accurate as of yesterday- I don't think we'll get today's in until tomorrow, total doses- and they should be total people- that have been vaccinated 60,414.
• Now let me break that down a little bit further. So, of total vaccine doses received, this is a come in and they've been logged in by the provider, on our health care worker side which are going to hospitals, they're going to our local health departments, they've received 122,100, and they have already vaccinated 49,773. So, not enough, not enough but certainly what, over, over a third, maybe hitting 40%. We're gonna reach out to each of these partners and talk about the urgency. And I know we've got health care providers out there that are concerned that they haven't gotten it yet, and I’d say two things. Number one, we need more urgency in this program by those providing the vaccinations, and we're gonna work with them on that but number two if you're a health care provider, you are going to get this vaccine so much earlier than the rest of the population so we really need you to set a good example on the patience side. Because what about that person who's going to have to wait two more months, and really need it, because they're vulnerable to this virus? For them, please set the very best example that you can. They're watching you. They're watching how you react. And so we need to make sure that we're modeling that right type of behavior.
• Long Term Care Program has received 52,650 doses and has provided 10,641 vaccinations. Now that's only about 20%. But you can look at the numbers a little differently, we believe 146 long term care facilities have had the vaccinations done right now out of about 750. Again, we need the pace to increase here, we're providing more people, we're pushing for better data on a day-to-day basis from these partners; but no question, no question, this has got to move faster and we're gonna make it happen.
• Some of the ways that we're going to do that Dr Stack is going to talk through. Providing more clarity, providing clear goals, creating accountability. And then as we move forward, and we're not going to go through it all today, how we build out the system out there, how we get more volume is something we're working on right now. You know we've been in this a couple weeks and we've already learned lessons, and we can't wait another month to start putting the newly needed infrastructure in place. When we learn one model doesn't work or doesn't move fast enough, we improve its efficiency, but we also look at other models we can rapidly implement, to where we can get the type of results that we need. So with that, Dr Stack.
• Thank you Governor. Good afternoon, Virginia. Can you hear me okay? So, I'm going to talk on two things real quick just very briefly, I think the Governor wanted me to touch on where we are. I think that the points he has made have already covered very well, that when testing was suppressed over the last two weeks, that people who probably didn't get tested were people who were lower risk, and so I think that can artificially elevate our positivity rate. I will tell you that there are signs that perhaps the hospitalization numbers are increasing. So I am concerned that the activities over the two major holidays here, the Christmas and New Year's plus the many other holidays that accompany the season, have probably resulted in some increase in disease. We will know that better over the next one to two weeks as we see what the positivity rate does when testing volume again increases. And we'll also see what happens with the hospitalization data. So I'm going to again, beseech all of you, I'm going to ask you as personally and passionately as I can, please wear your mask, stay six feet or more away from each other, wash your hands, stay home if you're sick, and get tested if you think you've been exposed or have COVID. So please, we've got to do these things, to block and tackle, until we get enough people vaccinated to get to a better place, which won't happen until later this year. I'd now like to turn our attention to the vaccine rollout.
• This is the phase planning for all the rest of the population. I'm going to go through three slides, and then I am going to turn around and put this in a bigger perspective. So phase 1A was already defined. Essentially, all the states followed ACIPS guidance, that's the CDCs advisory committee- that's long term care facilities and as the Governor said we've activated CVS and Walgreens fully and given the full allotment required to activate that as robustly as the federal government provided to us. Even so, we're working and trying to take steps to see if we can accelerate that further. But we're still hopeful that all the nursing home population will be vaccinated, both first and second dose, by March 1st. That's what we were led to believe at the start, and I think they can still get that done. If we can do it faster, that's even better. 1A also includes healthcare personnel. Folks, I'm a physician. For 20 years, I worked as an emergency physician after all my training. I know it's frustrating, it feels disempowering, not knowing where to go and how to get things. We're working on that. There weren’t systems in place to sort all of society and discrete little buckets and line them up single file and marched them through in a certain order-- that didn't exist and it's a really daunting task. So, the month of January, is going to be a progressive ramp up to reach and identify healthcare personnel in a very generously described paradigm. So in a memorandum I sent out to all healthcare personnel, a week or so ago, it describes healthcare personnel as being any individual regardless of their role, who works in a patient-care setting. That could be in a hospital, a doctor's office, a dentist's office, a physical therapy office, a home setting if you go out to a home. It could also be a mortician who's dealing with deceased individuals, it can also be people who deal with human tissue and fluids, like laboratory personnel, behavioral health individuals, it is intentionally a very generous permissive definition, it includes health care professional students. The challenge again is there was no way to have all of the healthcare people identify who they are and then have a designated place to go get vaccinated. Particularly when there are small quantities of vaccine in the first weeks, and all of this was happening over the holidays, the end of the year holidays where it is really really hard to get stuff established. And remember, we need health care people to be the ones who do the immunization, and part of the challenge there, as you all know, is it's been a hard year for a lot of the health care persons who have had to do so much extra work this year to help us get through COVID. So in the month of January that should escalate and ramp up. And I'm confident, the vast majority of healthcare personnel, and our very generous description of it, will have access to the vaccine as the month of January unfolds.

(continued in stickied comment)

Notes and Highlights of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s Live Update January 5, 2021
Notes by mr_tyler_durden and Daily Update Team
Watch here:

• Youtube: Update (YT Channel)
• Facebook: Update (FB Page)

Headlines

• 280,836 Cases (+1,781), 2,772 Deaths (+23)
• New cases by county: 314x Jefferson, 143x Fayette, 72x Warren, 65x Kenton, 53x Daviess, 49x Boone, 44x Laurel, 41x Bullitt, 31x Boyle, 31x Hardin, 30x Lawrence, 27x Calloway, 27x Hopkins, 27x Madison, 26x Nelson, 25x Campbell, 24x Jessamine, 24x Pike, 23x Allen, 23x Muhlenberg, 22x Floyd, 21x Bell, 20x Lincoln, 19x Greenup, 19x Wayne, 18x Anderson, 18x Jackson, 18x Knox, 17x Clay, 16x Graves, 15x Clinton, 15x Grayson, 14x Whitley, 13x Logan, 13x Marion, 13x Mercer, 13x Monroe, 13x Ohio, 13x Scott, 12x Marshall, 12x Pulaski, 12x Shelby, 11x Clark, 11x Henderson, 11x Mason, 10x Taylor, 9x Boyd, 9x Hancock, 9x Johnson, 9x Oldham, 9x Perry, 9x Woodford, 8x Edmonson, 8x Fleming, 8x Letcher, 8x Martin, 7x Franklin, 7x Rockcastle, 7x Simpson, 7x Washington, 6x Butler, 6x Carroll, 6x Christian, 6x Grant, 6x Harrison, 6x Leslie, 6x McCracken, 6x McCreary, 6x Russell, 6x Spencer, 5x Barren, 5x Casey, 5x Crittenden, 5x Hart, 5x Henry, 5x Lewis, 5x McLean, 5x Metcalfe, 5x Montgomery, 5x Nicholas, 5x Pendleton, 4x Adair, 4x Bourbon, 4x Caldwell, 4x Meade, 3x Bracken, 3x Cumberland, 3x Estill, 3x Fulton, 3x Lee, 3x Rowan, 3x Todd, 3x Webster, 2x Carter, 2x Garrard, 2x Harlan, 2x Knott, 2x Owen, 2x Union, 2x Wolfe, 1x Breathitt, 1x Elliott, 1x Gallatin, 1x Larue, 1x Livingston, 1x Lyon, 1x Magoffin, 1x Menifee, 1x Powell, 1x Trigg
• New deaths by county: 69 M Boyle, 87 F Caldwell, 68 M Fayette, 86 F Harlan, 63 M Harlan, 85 F Hickman, 85 F Jefferson, 92 M Jefferson, 97 M Jefferson, 95 F Kenton, 62 F Laurel, 67 F Laurel, 78 M Logan, 85 F Pulaski, 89 F Pulaski, 91 F Pulaski, 94 F Pulaski, 63 M Pulaski, 97 M Pulaski, 90 M Russell, 86 F Wolfe, 81 M Woodford
• Vaccine: So let's start with vaccines and first over, remember this is the December schedule of shipments that have almost all arrived, we're still getting some from that very last week of December, 27th- 31st. Part of this that we have to track is the federal government ships it directly to the providers that we indicate, that's actually working pretty well.<...> We have an update on the January shipments. So we showed you yesterday, the week of January 4th and Pfizer allocation being 27,300, these again are first doses, it doesn't include the second doses that we've started getting for people's booster. Remember, it's one shot and a booster. <...> And to those that think that we should use the second shot for other people and not use it as a booster, the CDC says don't do that, the FDA says don't do that, and the manufacturer says don't do that. So we're gonna do it right. And the new information today is in the system Tiberius, that's where the federal government puts in the new allocations, what we can expect next week are 27,300 from Pfizer and Moderna, 26,500, and these are all again first doses. <...>Total doses, administered in Kentucky. <...> I want to show you the phases, again, that, that we talked about yesterday. <...>You can go to our website, https://kycovid19.ky.gov and see how the CDC describes the highest COVID-19 risk conditions, and who falls in essential workers. All of that is online and set out in detail.
• <...> So just to summarize some of the information we're seeing in our data we, as I mentioned, previously of the folks that we've actively identified as a case through our tracing processes, was about 90,000 people. About half of those were folks that were quarantined and given that and a conversion rate of the number that becomes a case, we think there are about 450 potential deaths that were prevented. We have a 5.2% hospitalization rate. If you do the calculation on that, we think there were almost 2,400 potential hospitalizations that were prevented and around 1,700 ICU beds that we kept people out of is a result of the effort.<...>So just, just a quick summary contact tracing, as you can see is very effective. We have limited exposure for Kentuckians, we provided a lot of support to them, both in terms of helping them stay healthy, but also social support where folks, you know, may have had difficulty getting groceries or childcare, their medicines, assistance with their employers and the like. Reduction in hospitalizations and deaths. <...>So, it's effective, but it does require the participation of all of our citizens of the Commonwealth and I think that's the participation that we have had has been very successful.<..> Again, just to emphasize that while we all are anxious to be vaccinated and I include myself in that group, until we can be we have to continue to do the things that we just sort of harp on in terms of wearing a mask, social distancing, getting tested if you feel sick, taking care of your hygiene, and participating in contact tracing.
• <...> And also I want to get your reaction to the protest signs at the Capitol today calling for your impeachment and at least one saying “Make Hanging Traitors Great Again”, do you have any further information on those? Thanks. -- So I think today there was a rally where online they were trying to get hundreds or 1000s they had about a dozen. They were outnumbered by yard signs and Josh I'm just not intimidated by yard signs.
• For vaccine distribution, specifically in rural areas where doctors offices and hospitals are more scarce, so to speak, what kind of providers will be utilized in those areas especially in future phases? -- So we're working on those partnerships right now. So if for 1A, and remember on 1A, the long term care is already provided for by Walgreens and CVS. <...> As we look into our future and we are vaccinating significantly more people on any given day, we're gonna have to have larger regional sites in every area of the state. Which means we're going to ensure that within a certain drive, no matter where you are in Kentucky, there's going to be a facility, a drive-thru, a hospital, or other provider, a local health department that has the capacity and the IT infrastructure that's going to help get you through. We're going to make sure we have that all at the same time, across the state.
• With the latest recommendation for schools to wait until January 11th to reopen, and that date coming up next week. Do you think with the high positive test rates, and other than today, those, those surging case numbers that it is still safe for Kentucky schools to reopen? -- I believe on the 11th, which gives a little extra time to see what happened over the holidays and for people that develop symptoms to be tested, and to be quarantined, the 11th will be safe for our schools to resume in-person classes, because I believe they're open, but virtually, for this week. If they meet all the requirements in the executive order and follow all best practices, if they have reduced capacity in the facility, if they've provided an accommodation for all of the school personnel that fall into the danger zone, if they have true real virtual options for their students that gives real choice to families, I believe if all those things are done based on on some of the evolving research, then yes it can be safe. But every school, and every school district is going to have to closely monitor what they're seeing in their community, and they can't be afraid if things get bad with the number of students testing positive or staff and students quarantined to make the decisions that they need to make.
• Slides from Update

Full Notes

• Good afternoon everybody. And good afternoon Virginia. It is four o'clock, the time we come together, three times a week right now, and remember we're gonna get through this and we're gonna get through it together. 2021 is going to be the year that we defeat the Coronavirus. It's gonna take months. We're still going to sustain heartbreaking losses along the way, but we are going to win this battle. We're going to win this battle because vaccines are here, the first two that have received emergency approval are highly effective, and I'm working day-in and day-out, along with the Department for Public Health, and many others across state government to make sure that we are getting them out faster; that we are building the infrastructure to provide more widespread vaccination, and we are doing everything possible to make sure each one of you that wants a vaccine can get it as soon as they can. That is my primary mission right now knowing that for many, that could be the difference between life and death.
• Today I'm going to start with a vaccine update, go over a little bit of what we did yesterday, and making sure that everybody has seen the full list of priority. I think on Thursday we're going to have either Secretary Friedlander or Adam Mather from CHFS go through the Walgreens and CVS program, where it is, overall number of facilities and long term care that have received the first round of vaccination, and so we'll get a full picture of that endeavor on Thursday.
• So today we're gonna go over vaccine information. We're gonna get today's report and it's going to show you that coming out of the holidays our numbers are wonky, it's really low compared to yesterday and even previous weeks, that's a good thing but we're gonna have to see what it means. Our positivity rate is still pretty high, and then Mark Carter is with us to give us a real evaluation of the contact tracing program and I think you're gonna see that having all those people fighting so hard to reach those that are infectious, to keep them from going out, to make sure that they get care, and then to quarantine those around them, have saved a lot of lives and I'm very grateful for those in the local health departments that have been doing this work and for those that we've been able to add to it.
• So let's start with vaccines and first over, remember this is the December schedule of shipments that have almost all arrived, we're still getting some from that very last week of December, 27th- 31st. Part of this that we have to track is the federal government ships it directly to the providers that we indicate, that's actually working pretty well. It solves anybody from being a middleman and it makes sure that they are shipped pretty quickly to those that can store it and it should be helping us to get them out faster, something that we are addressing in real time. We have an update on the January shipments. So we showed you yesterday, the week of January 4th and Pfizer allocation being 27,300, these again are first doses, it doesn't include the second doses that we've started getting for people's booster. Remember, it's one shot and a booster. Don’t believe Facebook that you only need one shot, you need them both to get that 95%. And to those that think that we should use the second shot for other people and not use it as a booster, the CDC says don't do that, the FDA says don't do that, and the manufacturer says don't do that. So we're gonna do it right. And the new information today, is in the system Tiberius, that's where the federal government puts in the new allocations, what we can expect next week are 27,300 from Pfizer and Moderna, 26,500, and these are all again first doses. One of the challenges that we have right now, so we'll go back through the priority list in a minute but some people say okay if I'm in phase two or phase three what date is that going to begin? Well, right now we're only receiving the information about how many doses we'll even have a week in advance. And without a full guaranteed schedule, and also knowing what other vaccines may be approved and how much is going to be available, there is a limit to how far out we can project. Now the Pfizer number has been consistent for a couple weeks, it may be that that will be our regular weekly amount; but we got to wait to see that. We'll also have more available as we get through the full Long Term Care program to push out as we work through all of those phases.
• Total doses, administered in Kentucky. This number is better than it was yesterday, 66,582, that is an increase, just from yesterday of 6,168. I think that makes yesterday, and remember, you have 24 hours to report the vaccination and this is collected about noon every day, so it may be even a day behind-- we believe it is at least a day behind as we get everybody on that reporting within 24 hours schedule, but still appears to be the most doses of vaccine administered in a single day, and it does suggest our call to urgency is making an impact even in just the first day. That is a hopeful sign. And then just today, Walgreens was in 11 long term care facilities, they vaccinated 220 staff, 546 residents and good news they believe that they're going to finish their allocation of long term care facilities as early as this week for the first dose. They'll have to go back for the booster. CVS today vaccinated in 10 facilities, 1423 doses, so that's just the long term care piece. Again, on Thursday, we're going to get a specific update on the long term care vaccinations, where, whether it's Secretary Friedlander or Adam Mather, we'll walk through how it's going and then also give a resource for anybody who who hasn't gotten a call from either CVS or Walgreens. At that point, we'll be ready to step in and connect you to make sure that everybody is on the schedule. So it's picking up, and that's good news, obviously, it has to pick up more. I will say that many of us spent most all of today addressing the issues that we have in the speed of even 1A, which is healthcare workers and long term care. 1B, making sure that the logistics are pre-planned and that we have the structures in place that we're going to need to do significantly more vaccines, probably at some larger locations. So please know that this is mission #1 for your executive branch of state government and we're not going to let any noise or other things going on remove our focus from working to get this to you as quickly as possible.
• I want to show you the phases, again, that, that we talked about yesterday. Right now we are in phase 1A, that's long term care residents and staff, remember they make up over 66% of all of our deaths, they have to be the highest priority, as well as health care personnel. Now we are hearing that there are certain healthcare workers that might not be directly in hospitals or directly dealing with COVID patients that haven't gotten a call or a schedule yet, we're working on that right now. Remember we believe that 1A will go through probably the end of January and so we're working on the communication piece to make sure that those that are receiving it and regions are reaching out. Dr Stack was on a call with those facilities today, so it's coming, but please have patience with us. Remember if you get this in the first month and a half we need you to set a good example for everybody who's gonna have to wait longer. 1B, phase 1B, we believe will start February 1st plus or minus a week, we hope that it starts a week earlier. And that is as far out right now as we can project on precise dates, because we only know through next week the allocations of vaccines that we are getting. But we believe that this is a group that if we are organized, that we can really work through. 1C is a much larger group, by which time our infrastructure will have grown, and we anticipate that they will have a significant number at that point of even drive-thru vaccine operations where you will be able to schedule an appointment. And we'll be able to work those through 60 and older, and those that have the CDC highest risk conditions, and all essential workers. You can go to our website, https://kycovid19.ky.gov and see how the CDC describes the highest COVID-19 risk conditions, and who falls in essential workers. All of that is online and set out in detail. 2, 3, and 4, was going to take us some time to get better those that for the most part are able in through their bodies to to deal with COVID without, certainly, the deadly or the deadliest results. So 1A we're in right now, 1B which is remaining first responders, remember EMTs and EMS are in 1A, but remaining first responders, anyone 70 and older, K-12 school personnel that will help us get our schools fully open and operational a lot faster and not put those that are in the building right now at significant risk that we would see, if we went to a full capacity full day, every day, right now. That would be, I mean, unfortunately, that would likely sign- that would likely put people at real significant harm.
• Alright, today's report. Again, it's gonna take at least a week to figure out if the numbers from the last couple days were inflated because they were lab reports coming in, or if we're just going to see vacillation in the numbers for a couple days.
• Positive cases today: 1,781 - That's our lowest Tuesday in weeks.
• Probable cases: 436
• Total confirmed cases: 280,836
• Children Under 18: 202
• New cases by county: 314x Jefferson, 143x Fayette, 72x Warren, 65x Kenton, 53x Daviess, 49x Boone, 44x Laurel, 41x Bullitt, 31x Boyle, 31x Hardin, 30x Lawrence, 27x Calloway, 27x Hopkins, 27x Madison, 26x Nelson, 25x Campbell, 24x Jessamine, 24x Pike, 23x Allen, 23x Muhlenberg, 22x Floyd, 21x Bell, 20x Lincoln, 19x Greenup, 19x Wayne, 18x Anderson, 18x Jackson, 18x Knox, 17x Clay, 16x Graves, 15x Clinton, 15x Grayson, 14x Whitley, 13x Logan, 13x Marion, 13x Mercer, 13x Monroe, 13x Ohio, 13x Scott, 12x Marshall, 12x Pulaski, 12x Shelby, 11x Clark, 11x Henderson, 11x Mason, 10x Taylor, 9x Boyd, 9x Hancock, 9x Johnson, 9x Oldham, 9x Perry, 9x Woodford, 8x Edmonson, 8x Fleming, 8x Letcher, 8x Martin, 7x Franklin, 7x Rockcastle, 7x Simpson, 7x Washington, 6x Butler, 6x Carroll, 6x Christian, 6x Grant, 6x Harrison, 6x Leslie, 6x McCracken, 6x McCreary, 6x Russell, 6x Spencer, 5x Barren, 5x Casey, 5x Crittenden, 5x Hart, 5x Henry, 5x Lewis, 5x McLean, 5x Metcalfe, 5x Montgomery, 5x Nicholas, 5x Pendleton, 4x Adair, 4x Bourbon, 4x Caldwell, 4x Meade, 3x Bracken, 3x Cumberland, 3x Estill, 3x Fulton, 3x Lee, 3x Rowan, 3x Todd, 3x Webster, 2x Carter, 2x Garrard, 2x Harlan, 2x Knott, 2x Owen, 2x Union, 2x Wolfe, 1x Breathitt, 1x Elliott, 1x Gallatin, 1x Larue, 1x Livingston, 1x Lyon, 1x Magoffin, 1x Menifee, 1x Powell, 1x Trigg
• Total tests conducted: 3,519,209 (PCR: 3,234,501, Serology: 102,678) - We have now tested over 3.5 or provided more than 3.5M tests. I can't wait until the day that we provide 3.5M vaccinations, because the day that we have gotten through that is the day that will reach the type of numbers we need to forever, we hope forever, defeat this virus.
• Positivity Rate: 11.36% - Again, that's cause for concern but it's going to, again, take a little bit of time for us to see the data on exactly what the causes are.
• Total hospitalized: 13,850
• Currently hospitalized: 1,760 - Up slightly
• Total in ICU: 3,098
• Currently in ICU: 430 - Down along with ventilators
• On a ventilator: 215 - That's just barely down
• Total recovered: 37,502
• Now we do continue to see a significant number of deaths that still primarily relate back to that period of exponential growth but even 1,781 cases is too many people, when a certain percentage of those aren't going to make it. So let's continue even if we see numbers like we do today. I anticipate we'll see some higher numbers than this. Let's continue to try to push them down, because every amount we're able to decrease cases we unquestionably save lives.
• New deaths today: 23
• Total Deaths: 2,772
• New deaths by county: 69 M Boyle, 87 F Caldwell, 68 M Fayette, 86 F Harlan, 63 M Harlan, 85 F Hickman, 85 F Jefferson, 92 M Jefferson, 97 M Jefferson, 95 F Kenton, 62 F Laurel, 67 F Laurel, 78 M Logan, 85 F Pulaski, 89 F Pulaski, 91 F Pulaski, 94 F Pulaski, 63 M Pulaski, 97 M Pulaski, 90 M Russell, 86 F Wolfe, 81 M Woodford
• That's a lot of loss for Pulaski County, we are thinking about you.
• So today we've lost 23 additional Kentuckians. Those are 23 families that need your help. They need you to light your homes up green to show compassion, it’s the color of renewal, and they need you ringing the bells at 10am, every day. They need any other help and support that you can give them. This is a tough way, difficult way, and an emotionally challenging way to lose a loved one. Whether it's being able to see them before they pass, or whether it’s how you're able to celebrate their life in a funeral. So let's make sure that we don't wear down, in terms of our compassion, and being there for each other.
• Racial breakdown of all cases: 83.9% White, 9.3% Black, 5.1% Multiracial, 1.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander
• Ethnicity breakdown of all cases: 95.1% Non-Hispanic, 4.9% Hispanic
• Racial breakdown of all deaths: 87.2% White, 9.4% Black, 2.6% Multiracial, 0.7% Asian, 0.1% American Indian
• Ethnicity breakdown of all deaths: 97.9% Non-Hispanic, 2.1% Hispanic
• Long Term Care Facilities (PDF): 113 new residents and 118 new staff positive from yesterday, and 72 more deaths. Again, these are heartbreaking numbers to show every day, it shows why that vaccination program is so important. Once we have these facilities vaccinated, we're gonna we're going to save so many lives. So thank you to everybody out there being patient, and knowing that this is where vaccines need to go first.
  • Total facilities: 246
  • Total deaths: 1930
  • Active cases: 1328 residents, 718 staff
  • Total cases: 15201 residents, 11065 staff
• K-12 Update (PDF): PDF update only
• University Update (PDF): PDF update only
• Alright, we've got Mark Carter, who has put together a presentation about the great work of our contact tracers. Now it worries me that contact tracing got caught up, it seems, in a little politics. In a little politics about steps we had to take that worked to stop the first two waves and in the third wave they certainly put a dent in it and we hope that we've defeated that third wave. But again, it's always fragile, depending on our behavior, moving forward. But I think our contact tracers have been doing really good work, got caught up in other attacks people wanted to do, or again just just trying to question things that every expert says are the reality and the truth of this virus. So this is an opportunity I think for Mark to talk about the really incredible work of another group of heroes that have been out there working to protect people every day. Mark Carter.
• Thank you Governor and they really are heroes. I guess just to get started I'm pleased to be able to give this update. I think the focus of late on vaccines is exactly as it should be. After all, that's the hope that we all have, that we will get past this pandemic and we'll get past it in the coming months. And still at the same time, we've got to be careful until we are all vaccinated, and we're safe from the pandemic and from COVID-19. And so that means doing the things that we need to do both personally, in terms of things like wearing face coverings, taking care of our hygiene, keeping a social distance, etc. And we also need to continue to participate in the disease investigation and contact tracing efforts of our local health departments. So, with that is sort of a prelude.
• This probably looks familiar to everyone that has listened to my updates previously, on the left side of that slide you can see the numbers in terms of our staff. We have added over 1,200 staff, over the course of the last seven or seven months or so, as you can see there, and you can see the breakdown between contact tracers and investigators. These folks again are dispersed across the state in our 61 local health departments, and they're the folks that are doing the work every day that are making, making this effort successful. On the right side of that slide, just some numbers, we have 61 health departments up and running on our system, the one that isn't will be up and running, shortly. We had an allocation of about $78M or a budget of $78M dollars for the disease investigation and contact tracing effort through the end of December, we've spent just short of $48 million. So I think we've been good stewards of the money. It is federal money, but we still have the same obligation to manage that carefully and I think we've done a pretty good job of that. You can see down there almost 48,000 K-12 students quarantined. And our data that I'm showing you is really just from about the end of September, 1st of October. So that's a very significant number and, you know, we clearly prevented disease and likely saved lives as a result of those efforts.
• Again, just to emphasize that our data is really complete since about the first of October. So this really represents almost the entire fourth quarter of 2020, just before Christmas. So as you can see across the top here, we have some data parameters, we believe from our data that the folks identified as contacts would essentially convert to a case, meaning they became infected, while in quarantine at a rate of about 16% from the data that we have. And then our data from the fourth quarter shows that the number of contacts per case was about one and a half. Now we think that that is probably low for a variety of reasons. We were seeing larger numbers earlier in the year. But, because of some of the challenges that we've had with the program, we think some of the reporting there may be suppressed. That doesn't mean people aren't isolating and protecting themselves and their family, it just means that we only know about one and a half of them per infection, infected case. And then across there, just a few stats: 36,000 Kentuckians that were successfully contacted and quarantined that accounted for about 54,000 contacts who were quarantined after being exposed to someone who had the virus. 167,000 cases that were successfully isolated from our system that had tested positive for COVID-19. And again, this is another statistic that is skewed towards the fourth quarter, but 32% of those were successfully contacted by a contact tracer or an investigator within 24 hours. We think that percentage was considerably higher earlier in the effort but in the fourth quarter is when we started to see the really rapid growth in the infection. And that along with some other factors I think have limited our ability to get to as many people as we would like within 24 hours. 213,000 Kentuckians were successfully identified as needing quarantine. And we think about 57% of those were potentially exposed to COVID and then successfully quarantined.
• So just to summarize some of the information we're seeing in our data we, as I mentioned, previously of the folks that we've actively identified as a case through our tracing processes, was about 90,000 people. About half of those were folks that were quarantined and given that and a conversion rate of the number that becomes a case, we think there are about 450 potential deaths that were prevented. We have a 5.2% hospitalization rate. If you do the calculation on that, we think there were almost 2,400 potential hospitalizations that were prevented and around 1,700 ICU beds that we kept people out of is a result of the effort.
• I'll probably harp on this a little bit but you know our data is I say it is somewhat limited. It took us a while over the summer to get all of the health departments on-boarded onto the system, we've had, as we've talked about before, a number of challenges to our data, data gathering and data reporting. These are some that are highlighted here, just the decentralized nature of our public health infrastructure. And the fact that, you know, most of this data for years and years has been tracked in the local health departments and then reported up to DPH through somewhat labor-intensive processes I'll say, and so part of what we're doing is trying to centralize all that, and address that data limitation. We had a delayed rate of adoption, as I said, from some of the health departments as the surge occurred. That's really challenged our contact tracers and we had to make adjustments around priorities of who we call in and who we just rely on the case to inform their contacts when they're lower risk. So we think we have some underreported cases and contacts. That can occur just because people are afraid of the impact that having to quarantine or isolate might have on their life, their livelihood, their job, their kids, and so forth. And then finally the political polarization of this has been really troubling and I think has limited people's participation. We don't have the participation that we really want across the Commonwealth, which frankly for me would be 100%. The upshot of all this is that just because of all these reasons, the number I'm going to show you here, I think are probably very conservative and maybe understated. We tried to really just focus in on our data, and not try to make assumptions too much around what might occur in a couple of years. I'm sure that our epidemiologists in the Department of Public Health and probably our two public health schools in the Commonwealth will do exhaustive studies, and it's an informed opinion, but it is an opinion, that those studies will show that the tracing efforts saved many many lives and many hospitalizations.
• This slide is just an illustration, I borrowed this from the Louisville Metro Health department so I'll credit them for this, I'm sure that they borrowed it from someone else but for these purposes, we'll give them the credit. And this just shows how you know one person being infected, through their contacts and daily activities, can lead to an exponential growth in the infection. And it also shows how decisions that we make can have a real impact on this, personal decisions that we make. So, you know, I decide I'm not going to go out to eat at a restaurant on a particular night after I'd been, you know, potentially exposed. I didn't fly domestically, and so forth. And that's how we break the chain.
• What I'd like to show you is just how this could- and why I think that these numbers are understated. So if you look, start at the left side of that slide, you can see that we have 54,000 potential contacts that we know about, that we can then calculate the number of hospitalizations that are prevented, the number of deaths prevented. We came up with a $19M number for hospital costs saved. That number is a function of the number of hospitalizations, and the cost per hospitalization, we counseled with the Kentucky Hospital Association to get that number. And so you can see there that's pretty meaningful right there-- 300 deaths, what's that worth. But look at what happens as you move across that slide and follow that chain of growth in the infection. So, I think that based on what we can document, thus far, it's pretty clear that the program has been successful. I think that studies down the road will bear that out. But this is just intended to be an illustration to show the viewers how this disease could have impacted our Commonwealth in such a significant way.
• So just, just a quick summary contact tracing, as you can see is very effective. We have limited exposure for Kentuckians, we provided a lot of support to them, both in terms of helping them stay healthy, but also social support where folks, you know, may have had difficulty getting groceries or childcare, their medicines, assistance with their employers and the like. Reduction in hospitalizations and deaths. So again the summary there 450 lives saved, 54,000 Kentuckians that were quarantined and monitored for symptoms, and $31M saved in hospital costs through a $47M expenditure CARES Act funding. So, it's effective, but it does require the participation of all of our citizens of the Commonwealth and I think that's the participation that we have had has been very successful. So last slide and I'll finish up here.
• Again, just to emphasize that while we all are anxious to be vaccinated and I include myself in that group, until we can be we have to continue to do the things that we just sort of harp on in terms of wearing a mask, social distancing, getting tested if you feel sick, taking care of your hygiene, and participating in contact tracing. And if we can do that, we'll get to the vaccine and we'll get through this pandemic. Just as the governor said, we'll get through it together. So with that, I'll stop and turn it back over to Governor Beshear.
• Thank you, Mark. We'll have Mark on the line for questions as well as Dr Stack, who's on the line for questions. We have a medium sized group of journalists on the line, as well as just a couple of written questions so let's start with Karin from WEKU.

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The Chennai Silks is your luxury destination when it comes to buying plain silk sarees online. Check out the silk sarees collections in a wide range of designs, colour, and patterns from various parts of India at The Chennai Silks. Apart from silk sarees, they also have designer silk & cotton sarees, churidars, dress fabrics, traditional & western wear, suitings & shirtings, formal & casual wear, dhotis, sherwanis & children's wear.

Welcome to Aman Chatha, the new generation Online Indian Ethnic Wear Store. We bring you the World’s supreme collection and extensive range of Indian Punjabi suits, wedding Lehengas, and bridal wear. Aman Chatha is one of the top providers of online Indian traditional apparel in countries like the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and other parts of the World. We provide personalized design, stitching, and shipping of any Punjabi lady’s suits, Lehengas, and party wear to your doorstep.
Buy Punjabi Suits from India, Designer Salwar Kameez Online, and Salwar Suits for Weddings. If you are looking for the elegant collection of designer Panjabi Salwar Kameez or need a classy pair of bridal Salwar suits for weddings, you have come to the right place – at Aman Chatha. We have a striking collection of Salwar Kameez in a range of styles that comprise but are not limited to, Abaya Style, Anarkali Lehenga, Anarkali Suit, Asymmetric, Belted Suit, Palazzo, and short Anarkali style Sharara suits. Huge range of stunning hand-picked trendy designer salwar kameez suits from our exclusive UK range.
Aman Chatha has a beautiful collection of ethnic wear Punjabi suits customized to your liking and refined to a first-class. We offer eastern dresses from simple daily wear to festivity and bridal wear. Now you no longer have to request your family, relatives, and friends to get you Ethnic apparel from India since we are bridging this space in the UK market by providing you with everything you need right at your access.
Our chief focus is on fine quality products, punctual delivery, and customer’s contentment. Our Punjabi apparel includes Designer Punjabi Ladies Suits, Simple Ladies Punjabi Suits, and Punjabi Party Wear that are exclusively designed to give you the real sense of Indian legacy. Our Punjabi apparel collections are not only a perfect mix of form, function, and festivals, but they also echo the fortune of Indian attire and custom. Whether you are looking for something informal or a noteworthy occasion, we present fashionable designs completed to a sound standard. Our team of fabric designers works personally with artisans and weavers to convey your existing designs encouraged by fashion runways. Having a specialized curated team gives Aman Chatha a frame over other Indian traders.
There is no compromise on quality and fashion, and hence we offer the Latest Punjabi suits online at a reasonable price. You can take pleasure in exclusive women wear the latest Punjabi Ladies Suits store and unstitched or readymade Punjabi salwar suits of a different style that will turn into a special plea that each woman craves for. We offer Cotton Punjabi dress designs in overwhelming embroidery and a choice of Patiala, informal, and Churidar Salwar kameez to make you seem stunning regardless of your size. At Aman Chatha, you will get designer Salwar kameez cotton and other Punjabi Suits with beautiful Laces and Designs in different types of measures.
Indian wear suits are trendy and very versatile. Aman Chatha can customize Indian Suits as per the wearer’s requirement, and the Indian suits are very customizable as suits can wear with several kinds of bottoms. Indian suits smoothly go with trousers, Salwars, Palazzos, Churidars, and many other types of bottoms as well. Women’s dresses are also very versatile and can be personalized as per their choice. Whether we speak of Anarkalis or Indian Sarees or suits, each apparel can be modified as per the choice and need. Trouser suits are prevalent these days and are a switch to the traditional Salwar kameez. Among all other varieties of women’s dresses, the saree and the Lehenga is too cultured. Plus size clothes are available in all these Indian garments. You can find your most suitable apparel at Aman Chatha according to your size you want and place an order for them in the best size for you. Just choose an order and receive.
Aman Chatha includes a wide range of catalogue of Punjabi salwar suit style. Let’s check them out one by one:
Wedding Dresses: Aman Chatha has a sophisticated collection of some of the best wedding dresses for girls that are trendy, classic, and traditional at the same time. We include a wide range of wedding dresses for girls like Heavy work saree, Bridal Gown, Indo-western outfits, Flared Gown, etc. So, if you have to attend a foreign country function, you can surely rely on us.
Punjabi Salwar Suit: We know very well that your mind must be wondering whenever an event comes nearer. But here we have all set for you. We have arranged everything according to the newest trends and various kinds of salwar suit. Aman Chatha collection includes straight-cut salwar suit, Plazo salwar suit, Indo-western salwar suit, A-Line salwar suit, High- Low style Anarkali suit, and flared salwar suit, Sharara style salwar suit, and Frock style salwar suit, etc.
Bridal Lehngas: It’s getting difficult to find a bridal Lehenga for your wedding in a foreign country. But now you don’t have to worry because Aman Chatha has come with a massive range of different kinds of bridal wear Lehenga. We have a bridal wear collection that includes Net lehenga, Brocade Lehenga, Banarsi Lehenga, Chikankari Lehenga, Velvet Lehenga, Shimmery lehenga, Classic Plain Lehenga, and Embroidered Lehenga.

Many people think that fashion jewellery is for those who can’t afford real jewellery. However, lots of celebrities such as movie stars, stylists, socialites, fashion bloggers and fashion ramp models not only wear real jewellery but also wear fashion jewellery as well.
We listed out most important 5 important reasons why you buy fashion jewellery:
1. Price is less than Real Jewellery
One of the most important reasons why you need to choose fashion jewellery is that when it's created by bigger designer brands like Joe Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior it tends to go up in the price value since it becomes "vintage". Like Real Jewellery, custom jewellery from such big brands increases in worth over time. Plus, it's usually designed with perfection matching with trends. If anyone wants the vintage, Indian ethnic, contemporary designer look now without the wait, go with online fashion accessories stores that carry better jewellery which is just as beautiful like vintage earrings, bracelets, necklaces, mangalsutra, bridal jewellery, festive collection and much more.
2. Looks Like Real Jewellery
Most well-designer jewellery items do look real. Sometimes, they give the impression of being very much higher quality than the genuine one. Make sure don’t choose something that is too shiny. That can be a kind of "fake shine" to certain fashion jewellery, and that would not look at all trendy at this time. Try and stick with items consisting of silver 92.5, gold plated, American diamond, CZ jewelry. No plastic, please! Items that are polished with bad ink that demolished in very less time. Whenever possible, try to combine your costume items with some real look jewellery.. For instance, a genuine gold pendant can go with costume gold earrings.
3. Easy To Purchase Online in Less Price
You got many options to choose over an online platform with designs and prices. It is less costly for you and it makes it easier for you to choose different jewellery pieces and take from many varieties.
It can be also more easily purchased online since it’s not so expensive and you don’t necessarily need to closely examine it in person. For example, if you were to buy gold plated bracelets online you might pay less than 5K. Bracelets made of gold, on the other hand, might cost 5-10 times more that amount to buy something that expensive. The convenience of purchasing online has compelled some to buy their engagement rings online.
4. Don't Feel Sad Even it Breaks
Ultimately, if something happens to your jewellery piece, you will not feel bad more about it. Also, many times, you can fix it or polish. But if you wear any real gold, diamond, silver jewellery which is too costly and you can’t handle it if it breaks or is lost. If a gemstone falls off or comes loose, you can fix it with glue.
5. Best choice and suited with Every outfit
Fashion jewellery can sometimes look more fascinating and luxurious with your favourite outfits than real jewellery can! This is often the case if the piece was created by one of the fashion brands names like zevar king, chanel, Dior etc... A lot of their custom design items go rather very well with outfits and complement different outfits very well with the latest fashion, you don't necessarily need to wear what is real but makes you look so perfect at a party or casually.
Zeva king Jewelry sources unique pieces & fine material of jewellery directly from experienced manufacturers around the world.
Visit online at www.zevarking.com to view the best fashion jewellery online buy now.
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