An analysis by "health wonks" who worked for the Obama and Trump administrations, as The Washington Post described them, concluded that the only states that had met federal guidelines for reopening their economies were North Dakota, which started reopening May 1, and Kentucky, which will open all retail stores Monday. Then CovidExitStrategy.org reclassified Kentucky as "making progress," but not ready.
The shift appeared to come from a revised analysis of the state's capacity to test 2 percent of its population for the coronavirus each month, as the guidelines call for. The website says Kentucky is at 82 percent of that capacity. Gov. Andy Beshear says the state has more than that capacity, but needs to get people to sign up for tests.
Other "making progress" states and their estimated testing capacities included Tennessee, 92%; West Virginia, 59%; and Illinois, 100%. Illinois wasn't rated as ready overall because its rate of new cases is not declining. Kentucky's rate has declined 7 percent over the last two weeks.
The testing capacities of Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Virginia were rated at 36%, 50%, 48% and 49%, respectively, putting them in a lower readiness category than most states; Virginia's categorization also suffered because its rate of positive test results is not declining. Kentucky's current positive rate is 3%.
In other covid-19 news Friday:
- An employee of the JBS meat-processing plant in Louisville has died of covid-19. The employee was among 10 new cases at the plant, bringing its total to 67, WDRB reports.
- Scientists say it increasingly appears that the best covid-19 treatment will be a cocktail of medicines, similar to the treatment approaches used for other deadly infectious diseases, The Boston Globe reports.
- The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled the first bobblehead of Virginia Moore, the regular sign-language interpreter at Beshear's daily briefings. "In addition to the bobbling head, Virginia’s hands will also bobble," the museum says. "We will be donating $5 from every Virginia Moore Bobblehead sold to the Kentucky School for the Deaf Charitable Foundation to purchase clear masks for deaf and hard-of-hearing students and teachers."
from KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS https://ift.tt/2LxFCV6
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