Across Kentucky, schools, athletic associations, churches and other organizations announced sweeping measures Wednesday to limit the spread of the coronavirus — in many instances telling fans, students and members to stay away.

While the number of COVID-19 cases in Kentucky remained at eight Wednesday, expectations that the virus will continue to spread across the state and the U.S. have prompted some of the most draconian measures in decades.

The U.S. death toll has climbed to 37 and the number of U.S. cases rolled past 1,000, federal health officials said. The virus has been confirmed in at least 38 states and has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.

So far, no one has officially died of COVID-19 in Kentucky, and Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday that all eight individuals tested positive "are stable, are doing well and a couple of individuals may almost be through this."

While his predecessor, Matt Bevin, dismissed the "Chicken Little" response to the virus, Beshear made no apologies for the precautions the state is taking, including urging churches to cancel services.

"My job is to protect the people of the commonwealth," Beshear said. "I believe that every step we're taking has been intentional and thoughtful.

"I'm willing to do what it takes to protect our people."

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Beshear made his recommendations as a part of a larger push to ask all Kentuckians to minimize their presence in large group settings. At least two of the five Harrison County patients with coronavirus attend church together, he said.

“I don’t believe whether you go to church during this period of time is a test of faith." Beshear said. "I believe God gives us wisdom to protect each other, and we should do that.

"Again, I know that’s a big step. I know some won’t agree with it.”

He was right. At least several church leaders vowed to continue holding services, while others decided to meet Friday to decide what to do.

The Rev. Stephen Smith adamantly said Portland Memorial Missionary Baptist Church won't cancel services for its 800 members.

"You're not closing grocery stores, you're not closing gas stations, so no — we're not closing anything," he said.

Among the other institutions affected Wednesday:

Beshear said all state prisons would be closed to visitors, and he's making the same recommendation to county jails, too.

Beshear also said all Kentucky public schools should be prepared to close with as little as 72 hours notice, which would affect nearly 1,500 schools and about 650,000 students.

The University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University are suspending in-person instruction.

Thirteen local conferences planned for March and April have been canceled or postponed out of concern for the virus' spread.

The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in the Highlands is being postponed to an unknown date later this year.

Three people who attended the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes conference in Louisville Feb. 19-22 at the Omni Hotel have now tested positive for COVID-19.

The NCAA announced Wednesday the men's and women's basketball tournaments will be held as scheduled at all venues next week, but without any fans present.

Coronavirus tracker:How many cases are in Kentucky? Where are they?

Prisons, jails to restrict visitors

The preventative measures announced Wednesday come one day after Beshear recommended visitation restrictions at nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Justice and Public Safety Secretary Mary Noble, whose agency oversees the state's Department of Corrections, said these decisions are being made out of deep concern for the health and welfare of the state's people — including those who are incarcerated.

“Because they are confined, they are our responsibility," Noble said. "We are trying very hard … to do our best to maintain their health in that enclosed environment.”

Kentucky has about 24,000 people behind bars in state facilities and 13,000 in local jails, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts-based think tank focused on criminal justice. County jails will be offered similar guidance, Beshear said.

To ease the hardship on the incarcerated, Noble said they will be given one free phone call each week and up to two contacts through "a controlled social media source."

Noble said she does not know how long the visitation restriction will last, but it won't be "a day longer than we have to."

The state is suspending all nonessential travel outside Kentucky, and Beshear recommended that businesses begin implementing plans for employees to work remotely when possible.

Kentucky coronavirus live updates:Get the latest information here

Schools should be prepared to close for coronavirus

A statewide public school closure in response to COVID-19 would be unprecedented nationally.

Though the decision to close schools ultimately is up to local districts, Beshear said during an evening press conference that he could issue a "strong recommendation" for closures.

"And we hope everybody will follow it," he said.

Beshear spoke to the state's 172 district superintendents earlier Wednesday during a conference call, according to the Kentucky Department of Education, which arranged the call at Beshear's request.

Beshear asked schools to be prepared for all possibilities, said Toni Konz Tatman, a spokeswoman for the department.

New legislation under consideration in the legislature would allow districts to use up to 20 nontraditional instructional days for a public health emergency.

The measure would apply only to districts that have state-approved nontraditional plans, which let lessons continue from afar if classes are canceled — meaning schools don't have to tack makeup days onto the end of the school year.

Jefferson County Public Schools, the state's largest district, said it is preparing a nontraditional plan but has yet to release details.

Read more:Lawmakers trying to make school closures easier as virus fears mount

Kentucky universities adjust schedules due to coronavirus

The coronavirus has prompted universities to suspend classes and lengthen spring breaks.

UK, U of L and WKU — the state's three largest public universities, collectively educating 70,000 students — all announced they will enact remote learning into early April.

Bellarmine University, a private school in Louisville, is canceling classes the week after spring break and instead using remote learning until the end of March.

These announcements come one day after Berea College announced that it will stop holding classes on campus at the end of this week and wants students to move out of their dorms.

More coverage:UK and U of L suspend in-person classes because of coronavirus

Conferences call it quits

Coronavirus fears are upending major events across the country — from political rallies and sporting events to California's Coachella music festival — with Louisville also feeling the squeeze.

Louisville Tourism declined to name the 13 conferences that have canceled or postponed so far but said none of the events was major.

The canceled conferences were expected to draw about 2,200 visitors to Louisville, based on the hotel room nights they had blocked off with help from the tourism commission.

By Louisville Tourism’s estimate, those visitors would have generated $3 million for the city out of the $550 million economic impact the tourism commission had hoped to stimulate from conference bookings this year.

Full list:Which Louisville events are canceled because of the coronavirus?

Louisville's St. Patrick's Day Parade postponed

The Ancient Order of Hibernians originally announced Tuesday that the parade will "go on as scheduled barring any extreme circumstance," but it reversed course Wednesday, postponing the event indefinitely.

"We didn't want to press our luck and hurt anyone in the community or put anyone in peril," a parade organizer said.

Ireland has already canceled its parade, as have the major parades in Chicago and Boston. Lexington organizers also announced on Wednesday that their Saturday parade is canceled.

Read more:Louisville St. Patrick's Day Parade postponed due to coronavirus

Two more attendees of Episcopal conference in Louisville with COVID-19

A Texas man and an unidentified person have both tested positive for the coronavirus after attended a February conference in Louisville.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, and an unidentified person attended the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes conference in Louisville before falling ill and receiving a "presumptive positive" test for the COVID-19 virus.

The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth confirmed in a statement that Pace, 53, attended the Louisville conference and that he is hospitalized in isolation.

A CEEP spokesperson said the third patient is not from Louisville but added that they could not share their specific location "at this time."

Another conference attendee — Rev. Timothy Cole — was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Saturday, becoming Washington, D.C.'s first confirmed case.

Dr. Sarah Moyer, Chief Health Strategist and Director, Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness, said at a news conference Wednesday that while officials don't have a lot of information about the conference's effect, more cases would have likely popped up already if the event was launching an outbreak in Louisville.

Read this:What to do if you have coronavirus symptoms in Kentucky or Indiana

March Madness to be played without fans in the stands

The NCAA announced Wednesday the men's and women's basketball tournaments will be held as scheduled at all venues next week, but without fans present.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement that he made the decision after consulting with public health officials in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Attendance at the NCAA Tournament events will be limited to essential staff and family members, Emmert said.

The Division I men's basketball tournament is one of the premier events in college sports — attracting hundreds of thousands of fans and generating millions of dollars in revenue for the NCAA.

The 2018 iteration of the event brought in $844.3 million in television and marketing rights alone, according to The Associated Press.

Now, the 67-game tournament will be played in empty arenas at 14 sites throughout the country, beginning Tuesday night with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

About 80% of the people who get COVID-19 have mild or no symptoms, according to the World Health Organization. But older adults and people with serious chronic medical conditions — including heart disease, diabetes and lung disease — are at higher risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Doctors are still working on estimating the mortality rate of COVID-19, but it is thought to be higher than most flu strains, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. That is partly because this is a new coronavirus, and people have no immunity to it.

Read this:How is the coronavirus affecting Kentuckians’ spring break plans?

USA TODAY and reporters Ben Kobin, Billy Tobin, Olivia Krauth, Alfred Miller and Dahlia Ghabour contributed to this story. Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.