50 new Kentucky COVID-19 deaths and 2,261 cases. More than 10% of state vaccinated.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 2,261 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and 50 additional virus-related deaths, increasing the state’s total number of confirmed cases to 374,268 and bringing the death toll to 3,971.
Friday’s announced deaths make it the ninth deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic.
Beshear noted the state’s still-declining positivity rate, which dropped to 8.16 percent on Friday — the lowest since Dec. 28. That rate rose markedly in the weeks following Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Since many across the state will gather inside to watch the Super Bowl game on Sunday, Beshear asked that people keep those parties small to avoid another spike.
“No matter who you’re rooting for on Sunday, let’s make sure we hold on to our progress against this virus as Team Kentucky,” he said in a short written update.
There are 1,318 people hospitalized with COVID-19, including 330 in intensive care and 167 on a ventilator.
There are just five new coronavirus cases among long-term care facility residents and 16 among staff, bringing their total number of active cases to 624. Though all staff and residents in long-term care facilities have been offered at least a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, only an estimated 45 percent of staff had opted to get one as of Monday, according to state data.
Beshear on Friday said more than 10 percent of the state population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Official numbers released by the Kentucky Department for Public Health show only 9.3 percent have received a dose, but that does not include doses administered by federal programs for veterans and federal prisons.
The state has administered 85 percent of the total amount of vaccine it has received. Next week, the state expects to get 68,475 more doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 5:21 PM.
