3,614 new Kentucky COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths Friday. 154 dead since Sunday.
Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday announced 3,614 new cases of the virus across Kentucky and 25 additional deaths, lifting the case total to 194,193 and the death toll to 2,039.
Beshear in a written statement said Kentucky could be giving out the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine within the next 10 days. “That means every loss of life and every extra infection that happens between now and then is entirely avoidable,” he said. Since Sunday, the state has logged 154 new coronavirus deaths, making it the deadliest week so far.
The seven-day average rate of Kentuckians testing positive, which surpassed 10 percent for the first time on Thursday, dipped slightly on Friday to 9.93 percent.
There are 1,792 people hospitalized with the virus in Kentucky, 409 of whom are in intensive care and 230 are on ventilators.
All but six of Kentucky’s 120 counties are in the “red zone,” according to the state Department for Public Health’s incidence rate map, meaning those 114 counties have at least 25 confirmed cases of the virus per 100,000 people.
While the first round of coronavirus vaccines are slated to arrive in Kentucky mid month, the bulk of which will be reserved for long-term care residents and staff, the virus continues to hit those facilities especially hard. On Friday, there were 300 new cases among nursing home residents and 166 among staff, for a total of 3,651 active cases.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 5:58 PM.
