On Christmas Eve, Kentucky recorded second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths
Since Thursday, Kentucky has added 68 new deaths related to COVID-19 — 53 of those deaths were reported on Christmas Eve, Gov. Andy Beshear announced in a press release.
According to Beshear, Dec. 24 held the second-highest number of deaths reported in a single day in the state since the beginning of the pandemic, raising the state’s total to 2,534.
In the past three days, Kentucky also added 5,309 new cases, raising the state’s total to 255,563. As of Saturday, 396 people are in intensive care units and 1,511 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized — a drop from 1,689 people on Thursday. The rate of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus is at 8.04 percent.
“The number of deaths we’re announcing today is truly heartbreaking – another wake-up call. But one piece of good news is that our positivity rate continues to decline. It was even under eight percent on Christmas Day,” said Beshear in the release. “That means our sacrifices are making a difference. Thank you for doing the holidays differently this year to protect each other. Let’s keep working hard so we don’t have more days like today where we have to announce we’ve lost so many of our neighbors, family and friends.”
The number of Kentuckians on ventilators increased from 206 on Thursday to 237 on Saturday.
The most reported deaths in a single day came on Dec. 17 with 54.
Also on Saturday, Lexington reported 135 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the city’s total through Dec. 24 — the last day reported — to 22,262, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department data shows. The city added two new deaths on Christmas Eve, raising its total to 155.
This story was originally published December 26, 2020 at 5:26 PM.