In first COVID-19 update of 2021, Beshear reports 8,739 new cases over a 3-day period
Kentucky’s positivity rate for COVID-19 cases has risen to 10.79 percent and the state has reported 8,739 new cases of coronavirus for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
There have been 75 deaths as a result of the virus in Kentucky since the last report by Gov. Andy Beshear’s office, which was Wednesday. That brought the total lives lost among Kentuckians as a result of the pandemic to 2,698.
In his first COVID-19 update of 2021, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 39 deaths from Dec. 31, 14 deaths from Jan. 1 and 22 deaths for Saturday. He said there were 4,145 new cases of coronavirus reported Dec. 31, 3,124 Jan 1. and 1,470 Saturday.
Beshear said the higher positivity rate might be attributable to labs and testing locations being closed for the New Year’s holiday. When public testing sites are closed, a higher percentage of tests are conducted in medical settings, where patients might have gone for a test because they are experiencing symptoms, according to a news release from Beshear’s office.
“We will wait and watch closely over the coming days and weeks to gauge the impact the holidays may have had on our recent success in slowing new case growth,” Beshear said in the release. “With more vaccines arriving in 2021, we have a new sense of hope but right now we must all continue to do our part to stop this virus, including wearing a mask and avoiding large in-person gatherings.”
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department on Saturday reported 225 new COVID-19 cases from Thursday, bringing the total coronavirus cases in Lexington to 23,394 for the year. The health department typically reports the previous day’s case numbers, but the office was closed for the New Year’s Day holiday, so no cases were reported Friday.
On Thursday, the health department reported 275 new cases from the previous day.
No new deaths were reported among Fayette County residents Saturday. The city has lost 160 people as a result of COVID-19.
As of Saturday, 1,635 Kentuckians were hospitalized with the virus, and 428 of them were in intensive care. There were 211 people on ventilators.
This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 6:08 PM.
