FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky reported its “worst” day for the coronavirus Tuesday, setting records for nearly every metric used to gauge the outbreak.

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 4,151 new cases, 35 deaths, and a seven-day positivity rate of 9.59%. Hospitalizations, ICU patients, and ventilator usage were also at record-high levels Tuesday.

“If we don’t work in a concerted effort, if we don’t all do our part, if we try to be the exception, then slowing down this thing won’t work, and we will lose a lot more Kentuckians who we love and care about,” Beshear said.

Beshear said there were 46 recent coronavirus clusters related to restaurants in the Barren River health district.

As this happens in Kentucky, Congress negotiates a new coronavirus deal with many of the current measures ending Dec. 30. That means money could soon dry up for relief funds, extra unemployment benefits, and many other critical programs. 

“And it seems that both parties in D.C. believe that it’s critical, but just have gotten to a point where they can’t seem to even agree to help people together, so let’s hope that we have changes of heart there and that people start being human beings before being Democrats and Republicans and get this thing done,” Beshear said.

Mark Carter, who leads contact tracing efforts with the Kentucky Department for Public Health, said his department also faces a funding cliff.

“We desperately need either an extension of that date or additional funding or both in order to take this program into 2021 and get us through the months that we need to get through until we reach the point where we have a widely available vaccine,” Carter said.

Spectrum News 1 asked Carter about contact tracing efforts since many have been critical of the governor’s administration for not sharing enough data on local outbreaks.

Carter said the problem with a lot of that data was how decentralized it was with each local health department making their own efforts, but that’s changing.

“By around Oct. 1, we had all but one of our local health departments on our contact tracing system, and Lexington has just stood up and is going through the transition from their current system to the state system,” Carter said. “So we are accumulating data, we just don’t have much yet that we can share on a statewide basis.”

Carter says data sharing should be improving, and Beshear pushed back against critics who want more data to back up bar and restaurant closures. 

“If you believe the world is flat, and you don’t want to tell me that, you’re going to keep asking for more data,” Beshear said

Beshear said $1.7 million has been approved so far in the state’s fund for bars and restaurants impacted by the recent restrictions since the application process opened Monday at noon.

He also said there’s still $11 million left in the Healthy at Home utility relief fund, but all of that funding disappears at the end of the month without any intervention from Congress.

Even with the record-setting report Tuesday, Beshear said he still anticipates allowing indoor dining at bars and restaurants in some capacity when the current restrictions end Dec. 13. He also anticipates allowing elementary schools to open Dec. 7, as planned, depending on how bad the incidence rate of new coronavirus cases is in the school’s county.