Beshear orders new restrictions at nursing homes and prisons as COVID-19 spreads

Apr. 8--Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced several new actions to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the state's long-term care facilities Tuesday night after announcing there are more than 100 cases of the novel coronavirus in nursing homes, a state prison and a state psychiatric hospital.

"We have some coronvirus cases in the places we don't want it," Beshear said. "Where people are the most vulnerable."

At least 21 nursing homes in Kentucky have reported cases of COVID-19, including 55 cases among residents and 22 cases among staff. Beshear said the coronavirus has contributed to the deaths of 11 people -- all of them residents of the nursing homes.

Beshear did not name specific facilities when talking about the nursing homes, but said more people are being tested.

"We're working directly with the hardest hit facilities," he said. "This is a concern."

The elderly are among the most at risk of dying from COVID-19. Based on demographic information released by Beshear Monday, 50 percent of the Kentuckians older than 90 who have contracted the disease in Kentucky have died. The death rate is 35.19 percent for people in their 80s and 11.21 percent for people in their 70s.

Beshear closed nursing homes to almost all visitors on March 10. On Tuesday, his administration said it is taking several more steps, including:

-- Encouraging all residents to wear masks;

-- Canceling communal dining and social activities and limiting the movement of residents within facilities;

-- Minimizing entry into resident rooms by bundling care and treatment activities;

-- Daily monitoring of patients and staff for temperatures and shortness of breath, cough and sore throat;

-- Lowering the threshold to transfer ill residents to a higher level of care.

There have been reported positive cases of the coronavirus in one prison in Kentucky -- Green River Correctional Complex in Central City. Beshear said there are 14 total cases at the facility: nine inmates and five staffers.

"We're doing everything we can to quarantine" those who have tested positive, he said.

Beshear said state inmates are now making masks that will be used in Kentucky's prisons.

The Beshear Administration said it will stagger recreation time and limit the number of inmates who participate in order to increase social distancing. Gyms will be closed and all in-person activities, such as sports, classes and chapel, will cease.

Another 13 people have tested positive at Western State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Hopkinsville. Of the people who have tested positive, nine of them are patients and three are staff.

The hospital has stopped accepting new patients and all residents are being encouraged to wear masks. Other precautions being taken in nursing homes are also being taken at Western State Hospital, Beshear said.

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