2,443 new Kentucky COVID-19 cases & 32 deaths. Vaccine supply to increase another 5%.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 2,443 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Tuesday, along with 32 additional deaths, increasing the statewide confirmed case count to 366,938 and the death toll to 3,812.
“Here in Kentucky and across the county we are seeing case numbers declining and we want to continue to see that trend,” Beshear said in a written update.
Tuesday’s reported deaths included 13 people in their 50s and 60s, he said.
The statewide positivity rate hit 8.83 percent on Tuesday. It’s the fifth consecutive day the rate has remained under 9 percent, the governor said.
Beshear said the federal government has agreed to increase the state’s weekly allotment of coronavirus vaccine doses by 5 percent (on top of the extra 9,000 doses already promised). He said that means the state’s supply will increase by 22 percent next week compared with the last week of January. The exact amount, however, isn’t entirely clear, since the state Department for Public Health hasn’t yet released how many doses the state received last week. Beshear previously said Kentucky was slated to receive roughly 64,000 doses this week.
Earlier on Tuesday, vaccinations began at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The state and Kroger expect to administer 3,000 doses this week primarily for people in priority phase 1B who are age 70 and older. Registration for new appointments opens each morning at 6 a.m. and can be scheduled no more than seven days in advance, according to the state and Kroger officials.
Another regional vaccination site opened in Danville at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center on Tuesday, but it was offering one-tenth of the doses as Lexington. The Central Kentucky hospital received 170,000 calls from people wanting to schedule one of their first 300 available appointments, Beshear said.
While immunizations are only being given inside Alltech Arena at the horse park for now, the governor said he hopes to transition the site to include drive-thru vaccinations when the weather warms. Beshear will announce the location of additional Kroger sites on Thursday, he said. Registration for those sites will start at 5 p.m. that day.
Deciding on the location of these regional sites will depend on population density, health equity, and the ability to vaccinate a large quantity of people in a short period of time. “Our goal is to have no one drive more than one county away to get a vaccine,” Transportation Secretary Jim Gray, who’s overseeing the effort, said earlier in the day.
Appointments for the Kroger site can be made at kroger.com/covidvaccine or by calling 1-866-211-5320. To help people determine if they are currently eligible for a vaccine, and to direct them to a provider offering doses in their area, call 855-598-2246. People who are hearing impaired can call 855-326-4654. For general vaccine information, visit vaccine.ky.gov.
There are 1,335 people hospitalized with the virus, 373 in intensive care and 172 on a ventilator. In long-term care facilities, there are new cases among 32 residents and 33 staff, putting the number of active cases at 838.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 5:39 PM.
