The United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign locally has faced a similar predicament as many other charitable endeavors this year. Because of COVID-19, donations are down significantly while demand for the program has increased.
“Unfortunately, this year, it is only two toys per kids, a couple of books and a pile of stocking stuffers. Donations have been drastically reduced this year,” said Greg Sims, the coordinator for Whitley, Knox and Laurel County Campaign.
By comparison, last year each child received four toys.
While the local campaign helped nearly 5,000 children last year, this year it is serving almost 6,000 children.
2,953 new cases of COVID-19 reported Wednesday, positivity rate down slightly to 8.35%
Vadim Ghirda/AP
A medical worker, wearing a mask for protection against the COVID-19 infection on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
and last updated 2020-12-23 16:45:38-05
FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) â There are 2,953 new cases of COVID-19 as vaccines continue to roll out to frontline workers and people living in long-term care facilities.
On Wednesday, Gov. Andy Beshear updated Kentuckians on the state s vaccine rollout and COVID-19 case numbers. Team Kentucky, from the bottom of my heart â thank you. This war is far from over, but weâve won another battle, beating back exponential growth of this virus in our state before Christmas, said Gov. Beshear. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful holiday, even if it looks a little different this year. Please be careful so we can hold on to the progress we ve made.
Each of these counties reported 100 or more new cases; Jefferson County alone reported 415.
Those reported lost to the virus today include a 95-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man from Adair County; an 82-year-old man from Allen County; a 90-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man from Bath County; an 85-year-old man from Carter County; an 85-year-old man from Casey County; an 87-year-old woman from Clinton County; an 89-year-old woman from Daviess County; two women, ages 85 and 89, from Fayette County; a 69-year-old man from Greenup County; two men, ages 73 and 89, from Harlan County; an 85-year-old woman from Hopkins County; an 82-year-old woman and two men, ages 66 and 90, from Jefferson County; a 69-year-old man from Letcher County; two women, ages 69 and 79, from Lincoln County; an 83-year-old man from Madison County; a 90-year-old woman from Mason County; and two women ages, 62 and 63, and a 76-year-old man from Pulaski County.
During his 4 p.m. update on Tuesday, Dec. 22, Gov. Beshear reported 3,057 new cases of COVID-19. This bring’s Kentucky’s total cases to 247,344, with 199,942 of those cases being lab confirmed and 47,402 are probable.
Twenty-eight new deaths were reported Tuesday. Those reported lost to the virus include a 91-year-old woman from Boyd County; two women, ages 91 and 94, from Calloway County; a 66-year-old man from Casey County; two women, ages 64 and 87, and a 71-year-old man from Daviess County; a 67-year-old man from Fleming County; a 67-year-old woman from Graves County; two women, ages 57 and 63, and two men, ages 58 and 83, from Henderson County; a 67-year-old man from Henry County; a 67-year-old man from Hopkins County; a 74-year-old woman from Jackson County; a 53-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man from Jefferson County; an 81-year-old man from Knott County; three women, ages 86, 94 and 96, from Marion County; two men, ages 79 and 85, from McCracken County; an 87-year-old
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On Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear said he hoped all Kentuckians will have a wonderful Christmas, encouraging them to keep gatherings small and safe so they may enjoy many future holidays with their loved ones.
“I want to make sure I start by asking everybody to make that additional sacrifice and do their part to keep their Christmas celebrations small,” said Gov. Beshear
. “With the rest of the country on fire, with hospitalizations escalating in almost every other state, in Kentucky we are seeing a stabilization that is protecting the lives of our people, and we want to make sure that we continue to plateau or even see a decrease in cases as we move forward with this vaccine.