Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said that there are now 140 positive cases of coronavirus in the city, an increase of 14 since Saturday, though he said that “significantly understates” the total number of people infected because of a lack of testing.
“We’re not seeing the kind of explosion of new cases that’s happening in New York and other parts of the country because we’re not testing as much,” Fischer said during a video press conference Sunday afternoon.
“Hopefully the strategies that we’ve been employing at the state level and the city level and the personal level have been working.”
As of Saturday evening, there were 394 coronavirus cases across the entire state with more than 5,500 people tested.
In recent weeks, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has issued several orders restricting in-person traffic from non-essential businesses, schools and government buildings and has strongly advised against people gathering in groups to help prevent spread of the disease.
Fischer criticized people who flouted “social distancing” guidelines in Louisville over the weekend, including reports of people going to parties, drag racing and golfing.
Fischer said he would have to order the closure of public golf courses if people don’t properly distance themselves from others.
Basketball hoops and tennis nets have already been removed from public parks across the city.
“We’ve allowed golf courses to remain in operation because golf’s one of the few sports in which you can play and maintain six feet of separation,” Fischer said. “Please don’t put me in a position of having to shut our golf courses down too.”
Fischer also shared that a Louisville Metro Police officer has tested positive for coronavirus.
Reading a statement from Louisville Police Chief Steve Conrad, Fischer said that the officer is currently being treated at a hospital and the department has notified those who may have worked with them recently.
“We’re sorry to hear that, obviously,” Fischer said during a Sunday afternoon press conference. “All the folks that have been impacted or affected have been notified, they go into quarantine. We’ll follow that same protocol with our LMPD officer and obviously we wish them and our firefighters, everyone affected by the virus, the best.”
Fischer said that the area where the officer worked and vehicle have been cleaned and sanitized.
In recent days, the city has reported two fire fighters that have been infected with the disease.
