Kentucky Health News
Monday’s coronavirus numbers in Kentucky are all good: Cases are down, the positive-test rate is down, hospital numbers dropped again, the infection and death averages continue to inch their way down.
The state reported 722 new cases of the coronavirus Monday, the fewest daily number since July 25. That lowered the seven-day average to 2,086, the lowest since Aug. 8.
The percentage of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days continued to drop. On Monday, it was 8.26%, the lowest since July 27.
Hospital numbers also continue to drop. Kentucky hospitals reported 1,399 Covid-19 patients, down 115 from Friday; 418 of them in intensive care patients, down 48; and 266 Covid-19 patients on mechanical ventilation, down 44.
Eight of the state’s 10 hospital regions are using 80% or more of their intensive-care beds, with Northern Kentucky still at 100% capacity. The daily report list the counties in each region.
Kentucky’s seven-day infection rate fell to ninth among states, according to The New York Times’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The Times reports a 39% drop in new Kentucky cases over the last two weeks, the biggest drop among the top 15 states.
The state reports that its seven-day rate of daily new cases dropped again, to 39.2 daily cases per 100,000 residents. The state has 58 counties at or above that level and four of them with rates more than double the state rate: Whitley, 87.5; Perry, 82.1; Mercer, 82.1; and Pendleton, 81.3.
According to the state’s daily report, two of the state’s 120 counties have rates in the yellow zone, between 1 and 10 cases per 100,000, considered a moderate transmission level: Morgan, at 7.5, and Elliott, at 7.6. Seventeen counties are in orange, between 10 to 25 cases per 100,000, considered substantial transmission. All others are in red, with more than 25 cases per 100,000.
The state has added 97 Covid-19 deaths to its list since Friday, for a pandemic toll of 9,150. In the last seven days, it has averaged just under 35 deaths a day; in the last 14 days, the average is just under 41 per day.