Kentucky Has 39 New Cases; 1 Person Attended A 'Coronavirus Party'

Enlarge this image toggle caption Bruce Schreiner/AP Bruce Schreiner/AP

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Tuesday 39 new coronavirus cases in the state, including one young adult who attended a "coronavirus party," apparently held to flout social distancing guidelines.

"This is one that makes me mad, and it should make you mad," Beshear said of the case that occurred after the person attended a party of people in their 20s, who health officials say are as a group less vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear YouTube

"Anyone who goes to something like this may think they're indestructible, but it's someone else's loved one that they are going to hurt," he said at a news conference in the capital, Frankfort.

"We are battling for the health and the lives of our parents and our grandparents," he said. "Don't be callous as to intentionally go to something and expose yourself to something that will hurt other people. We ought to be much better than that."

Beshear, a first-term Democrat, also announced that he would issue an order on Wednesday requiring all businesses not considered "life-sustaining" to close as part of the effort to contain the spread of the virus. He said grocery stores, pharmacies, filling stations and banks would be among those exempted from the order.

The governor said Kentucky has 163 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and that four people in the state had recovered from the virus.