906 new Kentucky coronavirus cases puts the total above 50,000. Ten new deaths.

Sep. 3--Gov. Andy Beshear announced 906 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Thursday, pushing the state's case total above 50,000. He also announced the deaths of 10 more people with the coronavirus, bringing the overall death toll to 976.

Thursday's new cases represents the third-largest daily increase since the outbreak began six months ago. "I think it shows we're probably being a little more lax in our daily lives than we should be," Beshear said. "Let's make sure we do something about it."

The deaths announced by the governor included people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Beshear said the state is on track to end the week with a record number of deaths. Since Monday, 55 people have died from COVID-19.

The rate of people testing positive, a seven-day rolling average, is at 4.53 percent. Since Wednesday, 7,683 tests were administered.

At K-12 schools, the state reported 67 new positives among students and 22 in faculty and staff, bringing the total number of active cases among students to 273. Forty-four additional schools have logged at least one positive case of the virus. At state colleges and universities, 69 students and two staff tested positive, pushing the number of active cases among students to 675.

In nursing homes, 28 residents and 26 staff are positive. There are 582 active cases among residents and 379 among staff. In all, 563 nursing home residents and staff have died.

Currently, the state says 10,547 people have recovered, which is a drastic undercount according to data collected by the Herald-Leader from local health departments. At least 38,000 Kentuckians have recovered, according to the newspaper.

Kentucky has had trouble throughout the outbreak accurately reporting the number of people who've recovered from the virus. Part of why, Beshear said, is because it's hard to discern what "recovered" means, since the long-term effects of the virus, even after one stops being contagious, are unknown.

"What does it mean to be recovered? I don't want to present a false sense of security saying people are just recovered when it appears you can have complications even when you are no longer infectious," said Beshear, adding, "we are working on trying to address this issue."

Spread of the virus continues to gain momentum in Lexington, where 120 new cases were reported by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department on Thursday. The return of students to University of Kentucky's campus is a major driving factor to the city's rapid growth rate. In the last 11 days, the state's second-largest city has recorded 1,000 new cases -- the fastest growth rate since the outbreak started in early March. Since Aug. 3, 803 UK students have tested positive.

This story will be updated.

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