FRANKFORT, Ky. — A nine-month-old child from Hopkins County has died after testing positive for the coronavirus in Kentucky, making her the youngest victim in the commonwealth.

 

What You Need To Know


  • 9-month-old baby dies from coronavirus

  • It would have been SIDS, but she had coronavirus in her system

  • COVID-19 may not have contributed to her death

  • 450 people have died in Kentucky from COVID-19

 

"This is a reminder of how deadly this virus can be," Gov. Andy Beshear said. "How precious all of our lives are."

The youngest Kentuckian to die from COVID-19 before Wednesday’s update was a person in their 30s.

Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said under regular circumstances, the girl’s death likely would have been attributed to sudden infant death syndrome, SIDS, but because the coronavirus was present in her system, it counts as a coronavirus death.

"It is possible that COVID did directly contribute to the death. It’s also possible that it did not," Stack said. "It may be one of those things we never come to find out for sure."

But he says Covid-19 is still rare in children, and there haven’t been any recent cases of the inflammatory syndrome doctors believe is associated with the coronavirus.

Stack still wants people to remember the virus is still out there and extremely contagious, so people need to follow social distancing, wear masks, and practice good hygiene.

"These things are absolutely essential because we have no prevention," Stack said. "There’s no vaccine. We have no treatment and there’s not going to be one immediately."

Stack and Beshear say a second wave of coronavirus cases is still possible.

Beshear said the sheer volume of new cases won’t decide if more restrictions are put back in place— instead, it will depend more on hospital capacity.

"If we do our job well on testing and on contract tracing, if people who have it are willing to protect their fellow human being and self-isolate, there is an opportunity to deal with a spike in cases that doesn’t lead to a spike in deaths and doesn’t lead to an overwhelming of our healthcare capacity that leads to more deaths," Beshear said.

During his coronavirus briefing Wednesday, Beshear said there won’t be a need for a special session after reaching an agreement with legislative leaders.

The state’s road fund is projected to run a 10 percent deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30 due to lost revenue stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Beshear spoke last month about the possible need to bring lawmakers back this summer to deal with it, but now said it won’t be necessary.

"All we are looking at is the Transportation Cabinet Budget. There is zero discretion in what needs to be done. It is a revision of a number," Gov. Beshear said. "This is an agreement between all of the legislative leaders and the Governor’s office. So we do not believe at this time that there will be a need and there is agreement on the actions that have to be taken."