COVID-19 surging in Kentucky. 4,911 new cases & 37 deaths. Positivity rate nears 12%.
A day after Kentucky tallied a record number of new COVID-19 cases, Gov. Andy Beshear announced 4,911 more cases of the virus on Thursday, saying it signals a post-holiday spike.
“We are in a dangerous place,” Beshear said in an update.
Thursday’s new case total is the second-highest number the state has reported in a single day. On Wednesday, the state logged more than 5,700 new cases.
Beshear said it’s “now clear that we are seeing an escalation related to holiday gatherings. This is not the time to make it harder to react to this virus when it may be surging again.”
He also announced 37 additional deaths, and reiterated his plea for people to wear masks around others.
“Wear your masks all the time when you are indoors and there is anybody else there who is from outside your household,” he said. “Do it for your own safety.”
Like the number of new cases, the rate of Kentuckians testing positive continued its climb, hitting another all-time high of 11.93 percent. At least 2,843 people have died from the virus, and the state has logged 291,430 total cases.
There are 1,744 people in the hospital with coronavirus (34 fewer than Wednesday), 424 in intensive care (four fewer) and 217 on a ventilator (27 fewer).
There are 93 new infections among nursing home staff, and 80 among residents, totaling almost 2,000 active infections. Staff and residents at these facilities, along with health care workers, are among the only populations eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine. In the last two days, at least 32,524 people have received their first dose, Beshear said.
Lexington on Thursday reported 330 new cases of the virus — the most reported since Dec. 9 — making it one of only a handful of days the city’s daily case count has risen above 300 since the start of the pandemic. The increase is in part due to backlogged cases from holiday lab closures, as well as new cases stemming from holiday gatherings, a local health department official said.
Along with Fayette County, Warren, Kenton and Daviess counties each reported more than 200 cases, and Jefferson County reported 828.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 6:08 PM.
