Gov. Beshear Provides Update on COVID-19

coronavirus

As of 4 p.m. June 18, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 13,197 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 234 of which were newly confirmed Thursday.

Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear reported three new deaths Thursday, raising the total to 520 Kentuckians lost to the virus. After review, one death previously counted was determined not to be a COVID-related death and has been removed from the death count.

The deaths reported Thursday include a 91-year-old woman from Jefferson County, an 87-year-old man from Logan County and a 79-year-old man from Perry County.

At least 3,506 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.

For additional information, including up-to-date lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here.

During the news conference, Gov. Beshear urged all graduating high school seniors, parents and adult learners across Kentucky to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as the FAFSA form. You can complete this form entirely online by visiting KHEAA.com, where you can find instructions for submitting a form, including videos, along with other details about the process.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education provides more than $120 billion in federal grants, loans and work-study funds to students.

Gov. Beshear also signed a proclamation recognizing today, June 19, as Juneteenth National Freedom Day. He will encourage the legislature to adopt it as a state holiday in the next regular session.

Juneteenth celebrates the events of June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger led Union soldiers into Galveston, Texas, to bring news that the Civil War had ended and to read General Order #3, which stated that in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation all enslaved African-American people were free and entitled to absolute equality of personal and property rights.

“During these times when again we have heard voices and we have seen the frustration of hundreds of years of ramifications of slavery, discriminations, Jim Crow, of segregation, I think it’s more and more important that we remind everybody of this dark chapter in our history and that its impacts continue to linger,” said Gov. Beshear. “We should celebrate the dates that at least portions of that dark chapter ended.”

Also during the confrence, Gov. Beshear provided an update of an executive order he made on his third day in office that restored the right to vote to Kentuckians who have paid their debt to society by completing their sentences for nonviolent offenses. Yesterday, 175,053 ex-offenders have regained voting eligibility since the order was signed. The number will continue to increase as more people complete their sentences. Each of these individuals still has to register to vote, and although the deadline has passed for the primary election, Gov. Beshear encouraged them to register for the general election.