Here's the latest from Sunday on the coronavirus outbreak in Kentucky

As confirmed COVID-19 cases continued to rise in Kentucky, state officials issued a stark warning to commonwealth residents: Ignoring social distancing guidelines could cost people their lives.

Their public plea came amid reports of crowds at golf courses, plans for continued church services in Graves County, busy home improvement stores and large gatherings in downtown Louisville street corners — including late-night street races. 

“We are facing an adversary that can take the lives of people that we love,” Gov. Andy Beshear said during his Sunday evening public address. “The way to combat it is to stay away from each other.”

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Forty-five new cases of the virus were confirmed early Sunday evening, raising the state’s total to 439. Nine of those new cases came from Jefferson County, where Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said a Louisville Metro police officer tested positive for the virus and is being treated at a hospital.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, there were no new virus-related deaths in Kentucky.

In Indiana, officials reported one new virus-related death Sunday and 290 new cases. That state now has 1,514 confirmed cases as of Sunday morning, with 32 people killed.

Though Kentucky's case number total did not rise as sharply as it has in recent days, Beshear cautiously reminded the public that a surge of positive test results still looms on the horizon.

The state has roughly 18,500 hospital beds, 1,300 intensive care unit beds and the same number of life-saving ventilators, Beshear said. Any back-peddling on current social distancing guidelines, which President Donald Trump announced are extended on the federal level through April 30, could cause the virus to spread with such staggering speed that it overwhelms health care systems.

“We’re going to have more cases, each and every day, and we ought to be prepared for it,” Beshear said. “And we’re going to lose more people, and it’s going to be hard. But we’ve got to know that is coming. We’ve got to dig in and realize that our actions more than ever in our lifetimes impact other people.”

Here's a roundup of regional news related to the global pandemic: 

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

Golf courses, home improvement stores in crosshairs

Social distancing, more specifically, getting better at it, remains at the center of conversation for Beshear. 

He said Sunday the state has received reports of packed aisles at home improvement stores, which have been classified as essential businesses and allowed to remain open.

They could be shuttered, he said, if social distancing guidelines aren't followed.

A Mercer County man who was tested for the virus refused to cooperate with local health department efforts to trace who he may have come in contact with, said Dr. Steven Stack, public health commissioner.

Stack also said he's received reports of churches in Graves County, near the southwestern tip of Kentucky, planning to continue public services.

Read more:Louisville's quest to keep people apart stifled by disobedient golfers and street racers

"If you have a parish to 600 people, and you're having services right now, how are you going to feel when only 500 show up for Christmas service this year?" Stack asked. "That's the way you need to think about it. This is not a game. This is real."

There was also brewing concern over continued operations at golf courses across the state. Over the weekend, photos surfaced of a dozen or so golfers standing around what looks to be a putting green at Hunting Creek Country Club in Prospect. 

The day before, Louisville police were dispatched three times to 13th and Breckinridge streets to shut down an illegal street race that drew upwards of 40 people. One day earlier, the city reported a street race at Broadway and 13th that Fischer said drew close to 100 people.

TSA agent, VA staffers test positive

A TSA agent at Louisville International Airport, two staff members at Robley Rex Medical Center in Louisville, and a U.S. Census worker in Jeffersonville, Indiana, were among the new cases confirmed this weekend.

The TSA agent worked as a baggage officer, and their last work shift was from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 24.

"Because of the nature of this individual’s job, there was very limited exposure to others, and they did not work in the passenger screening area," airport officials said in a statement. "The Airport Authority has established protocols, which include increased cleaning of high-touch areas such as handrails, elevator buttons and restrooms at SDF since mid-February."

The terminal where the employee worked was cleaned and sanitized, the statement read.

Nationally, 50 TSA screening officers and 19 TSA employees have tested positive for the virus in the last two weeks, according to the agency. They worked at 18 airports in 14 different states.

Beshear dismisses lawmaker's bill as 'silly'

Beshear called a lawmaker's bill to let Kentuckians sue the state over his recent emergency measures "silly" during his Sunday public address. 

"I'm trying to save people's lives," Beshear said. "And if somebody doesn't understand that, or if someone doesn't care, I don't really have a reaction for them."

Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, filed a floor amendment to her House Bill 322 on March 19 that would limit the scope of a governor's executive orders issued during a public health emergency and allow residents to sue the state if such an order adversely affected their business.

"Isn't this silly?" asked Beshear, responding to a question about the bill. "At a time when we're all supposed to be in this together, we're all supposed to be doing our duty and we're all supposed to be doing what it takes to respond to this worldwide pandemic."

Beshear said if people look back on the current pandemic and say his emergency orders closing certain businesses was overly aggressive, "that's a reality I look forward to, because it means our people were safer than what we anticipate is coming."

"People can put an amendment that lets the whole world sue me. I used to be a lawyer, I can handle that," Beshear said. "But I'm gonna continue to do the right thing, no matter what."

In a Facebook post explaining her floor amendment — which completely stripped out and replaced the language of her unrelated bill — Maddox said its purpose "was not to criticize or undermine the Governor’s efforts, rather to ensure that any use of government force is appropriately balanced with the consent of the governed in accordance with our Constitutional rights."

Maddox's bill is unlikely to pass in the few remaining legislative days of the current  Kentucky General Assembly session, as it remains in a House committee.

Staff reporters Savannah Eadens, Sarah Ladd, Cameron Teague Robinson and Joe Sonka contributed to this story.

Jonathan Bullington is an investigative reporter. Reach him at: 502-582-4241; JBullingto@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jrbullington. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.