Gov. Beshear: 2 cases of U.K. COVID variant confirmed in Ky., 2,714 new cases Tuesday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - In Tuesday’s update, Governor Andy Beshear confirmed that two cases of the COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom have been reported in the commonwealth.

Doctors have shown concern that the new COVID strain can spread easier and can possibly be more deadly than the current strain within the United States.

“Public health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack is going to talk about this more tomorrow. The UK variant does spread more aggressively, but he’ll take us through all the implications of having this strain here,” Beshear said in a release from his office.

In addition, Beshear mentioned that on a call with President Biden’s COVID-19 team the federal government will be increasing each state’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines by 17 percent.

“That is a great start,” Beshear said. “The other thing they are doing is guaranteeing a minimum supply for three straight weeks. One of the tough things we’ve been dealing with is only knowing on a Tuesday what we would have the next week and not knowing what we would have in the weeks after.”

Beshear confirmed on Tuesday that there were 2,714 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the commonwealth. The total number of cases in Kentucky since the pandemic began is now at 350,528.

An additional 35 deaths due to COVID-19 were also confirmed Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths due to the virus in Kentucky to 3,495.

Positivity rate for Kentucky is now at 9.63 percent based on a seven-day rolling average.

Other information provided in Tuesday’s update includes:

• Patients currently hospitalized : 1,566
• Patients currently in ICU : 391
• Patients currently on a ventilator : 228

Governor Beshear said that another live report will be given Wednesday at 4 p.m. You can watch it live on WAVE3.com and our streaming channels.

For additional information on positive cases and breakdowns on county, race and ethnicity, visit the Team Kentucky COVID-19 website.

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