News Budget for March 24, 2020
New COVID-19 stories since this morning
Louisville Courier Journal
Ford shutdown, retailers close and Trump tweets: Here’s your midday coronavirus update
As Kentuckians settle into their new, isolated routines, the federal government is issuing mixed signals about how long social distancing should last. Despite advice from public health officials that prolonged isolation is necessary to curb the spread of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Tuesday seemed to push for a shorter timeline. “Our people want to return to work,” Trump said on Twitter. “They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together.”
Lexington Herald-Leader
‘Not all heroes wear capes.’ Meet Virginia Moore, Andy Beshear’s Capitol sidekick.
She’s a cop, chasing down the Pike County bingo hall and the Floyd County flea market. She’s on the bridge of the starship Enterprise, standing just behind the captain. She’s Robin to Batman. In the memefest surrounding Gov. Andy Beshear’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, fans have not forgotten Virginia Moore, the American Sign Language interpreter who is part of the daily comfort briefings at 5 p.m. every day. Moore, 58, is not just any interpreter and Beshear sidekick, she’s the executive director of the Kentucky Commission of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which serves 700,000 people in Kentucky.
The Paducah Sun
NTI is learning experience for students, teachers
Last week, students across Kentucky began getting schoolwork done while staying home. Non-Traditional Instruction — known as NTI — allows those students to work from home, as many adults are now doing. Districts are required to apply for NTI days — days of instruction that do not have to be made up at the end of the year — at least 120 days before the first day of the school year they are to be used. On March 11, the Kentucky Department of Education allowed school districts to make emergency applications for 10 NTI days as the novel coronavirus spread. When the 2019-20 school year began, 83 school districts were taking part in the program. By the end of the week, all 172 public school districts were onboard.
The Ledger Independent
Schools to continue NTI, meal delivery until April 20
Local school districts are complying with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s recommendation to remain closed until at least April 20. On a conference call with superintendents Friday, Beshear recommended the additional two week closure to encourage social distancing in the midst of concerns over COVID-19.
The Messenger, Madisonville
Independent contractors finding new ways to help during crisis
Businesses across the board have been hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic. For barbers, hairstylists and others in the self-care industry, this experience has had a crippling impact, said James Carr Trice, a barber at Barber Boys Barber Shop on South Main Street in Madisonville. Some of those impacted are finding ways to help and still earn a check. Trice said he started a delivery service for take-out and groceries, so he could provide for his wife and three kids who are under the age of 5.
The State Journal
KY distillery to donate cases of high proof alcohol to first responders, health care facilities
Beginning Tuesday, Buffalo Trace Distillery plans to donate a case of its Clear Spring, 190-proof alcohol to a list of approved organizations to use as a disinfectant. According to a press release, the following groups may apply: first responders, government agencies, law enforcement, 501(c)(3) nonprofits and health care facilities.
Louisville Courier Journal
Amazon temporarily closes a Kentucky warehouse due to employee coronavirus cases
An Amazon warehouse in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, has temporarily closed after several workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to officials. A spokesperson for Amazon said Tuesday one of the e-commerce giant’s fulfillment centers in Bullitt County has been shut down “for additional sanitization” after an unspecified number of workers tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The spokesperson did not specify which warehouse closed nor share the number of employees who have been infected with the virus and when the employees received their positive test results.
Louisville Courier Journal
Shutdown for Louisville’s two Ford plants extended because of coronavirus
Ford Motor Co.’s two large factories in Louisville won’t restart production on Monday after all — and the company hasn’t set a date yet for when its workforce will return to the assembly lines. That means that at least 13,400 hourly employees in Louisville will remain idle during what may become an extended shutdown. Ford officials said Tuesday morning that “in light of various governments’ orders to stay and work from home, Ford is not planning to restart our plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on Monday, March 30 as originally hoped.”
Lexington Herald-Leader
‘Very bleak.’ Job losses in Kentucky hotel industry could top 7,000, industry says
A wave of cancellations due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions and bans on large groups gatherings will likely mean a loss of more than 7,000 hotel jobs in Kentucky alone, according to estimates from a hotel trade association. “It is changing by the day and not for the better,” said Hank Phillips, president and CEO of the Kentucky Travel Industry Association. “I would say the job loss is significant. The occupancy rate is precipitous.” With no hotel rooms to clean and no guests to check in, hotels have either had to dramatically slash work hours or lay people off, Phillips said.
Lexington Herald-Leader
Chief justice pleads for Kentucky inmate releases ahead of COVID-19, but progress slow
Kentucky’s chief justice is urging state court officials to release jail inmates “as quickly as we can” to avoid potentially calamitous outbreaks of the novel coronavirus behind bars. However, new jail population figures suggest that most officials have been slow to address the crisis, and dozens of local jails remain crammed with far more bodies than beds.
Louisville Courier Journal
Beshear floats idea of turning hotels into temporary hospitals for COVID-19 response
Gov. Andy Beshear said Kentucky is making plans to convert hotels into hospitals to provide additional beds, if the spread of the deadly coronavirus warrants it. In response to questions about the availability of hospital beds and other personal protective equipment, or PPE, Beshear said during his press conference Monday that “we have plans in place to convert hotels into hospitals, with additional beds, if needed” in the event the virus overwhelms hospital space
