FRANKFORT, Ky. — Early last month, cases of COVID-19 started rising in Kentucky. Now, some hospital beds and ICUs are filling up fast.

“We owed it to our health care heroes to have defeated this thing by now,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. “We owe it to them to get vaccinated so they don’t have to spend days and nights and days and nights and days and nights fighting our plague.”

Representatives for several hospital groups spoke during Beshear’s COVID-19 update Thursday, including Dr. William Melahn with St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, where ICU beds are 100% full.

“I think I’m speaking for all the hospitals across the state in saying that we’re worn out, but we’re not going to give up,” Melahn said. “But if you really want to help us, go get vaccinated.”

Melahn said the hospital is creating overflow wings for COVID-19 patients to deal with the bed shortage.

UofL Health isn’t doing quite as bad, but Chief Nurse Executive Cindy Lucchese said the number of COVID patients in the hospital now is four times what it was last month.

“And right now in our hospitals, nurses across the commonwealth are leaving their families to take care of yours,” she said.

This comes as Beshear implements a new mask policy for schools, a move that generated a lot of heated discussion about mandates.

Beshear said he’ll do what’s necessary to keep people safe.

“But we do not have to have any shutdown ever again. We do not and should not have to have any capacity restrictions again, because if people are willing to do the right thing, masking plus vaccinations can keep us safe,” he said. “And guess what? If everybody can get vaccinated, we wouldn’t even need the masking. So anybody who doesn’t like the masking that’s not vaccinated, I’m sorry pal, you’re the reason.”

The Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet also just created a new incentive to get Kentuckians vaccinated: anyone who gets their COVID-19 vaccine can sign up to win a vacation benefit at any of Kentucky’s state parks.