'Makes Me Mad': Young Adult Tests Positive After Attending 'Coronavirus Party,' Says Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
FRANKFORT, Ky. (CBS Local) -- Some young adults in Kentucky decided to hold a "coronavirus party" and now at least one of the people at the party has tested positive for COVID-19.
The partygoers intentionally got together thinking "they are indestructible" and purposely defying state guidance to practice social distancing, Governor Andy Beshear said Tuesday.
"This is one that makes me mad," the governor said. "We should forgive that person but no more of these anywhere, statewide ever for any reason."
While COVID-19 has tended to be more deadly and severe for people older than 60 and those with underlying health issues, officials have implored millennials and other young people to practice social distancing because asymptomatic carriers of the virus can transmit it to other people.
A young adult who attended a "coronavirus party" in Kentucky has tested positive for COVID-19. https://t.co/vLUAiBZcFZ
— News 8 WROC (@News_8) March 25, 2020
"We are battling for the health and even the lives of our parents and our grandparents. And don't be so callus to intentionally go to something and expose yourself to something that can kill other people. We ought to be much better than that," Beshear said.
There are at least 163 cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, Beshear said Tuesday, announcing 39 new cases since Monday, CBS affiliate WKYT reported.
With cases rising, Beshear ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses to close to in-person traffic, effective 8 p.m. Thursday.
"This will not last forever," Beshear said. "There will be a light at the end of the tunnel, even if we don't know how far it is away."