KENTUCKY — According to new data from the state's Department of Public Health, Kentucky is in the fourth week of decline or plateau in new COVID cases. During the last week of September, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, patients in the ICU, patients on ventilators and COVID-19 related visits per day decreased.

Gov. Andy Beshear (D) continues to urge eligible Kentuckians to get the new booster shots to protect against COVID-19. These boosters are recommended for all persons 12 years and older who had their last COVID-19 vaccine dose at least two months ago. Locations and appointments can be found on vaccines.gov.

"We are on a very good trajectory. We are on a decline in every metric that's out there, which is wonderful news. Now, while COVID hasn't been as bad in this latest phase as it was before, we still lost people that we love and then people are getting sick which hurts productivity and no one wants to go through being sick. Things look like they are getting a whole lot better. So the World Health Organization said the end is in sight," explains Gov. Beshear.

The Governor also discussed the recent announcement that the commonwealth has secured the return of Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration’s $15 million investment in an aluminum mill in Northeastern Kentucky that never materialized.

Beshear said that the land, which was previously acquired as part of the proposed project, would also be donated back to the local communities to be used for future economic development opportunities as part of a larger land transaction being negotiated.

"We are going to land a major employer on it, maybe multiple employers on it, I think at least part of that land. This announcement has been a long time coming, and I want to recognize members of this administration and Commonwealth Seed Capital, as well as Unity Aluminum, for coming together to do what is right for the community and Kentucky by returning these funds to the commonwealth,” Gov. Beshear said.

You can watch the full In Focus segment in the player above.