COVID-19 ‘isn’t finished with us.’ After weeks of decline, new cases tick up in KY.
Citing “concerns” about Kentucky’s plateauing COVID-19 infection rate, Gov. Andy Beshear reported more new cases last week than the two previous weeks, ending two months of week-over-week decline.
Last week, Kentucky logged 9,506 new coronavirus cases, which exceeded the 7,919 cases reported the week before and the 8,603 cases confirmed in the first week of November. The positivity rate is also on the rise, escalating from 5.03% on November 1 to a monthly high of 5.73% on Monday.
“This virus likely isn’t finished with us,” the governor said in a news conference from Frankfort. The latest escalation doesn’t necessarily portend another statewide surge but it does solidify that the infection curve has plateaued, Beshear said.
Hospitalizations are still dropping, but the rate of decline continues to slow. Though the volume of coronavirus patients has dropped 4% in the last seven days, that’s a far cry from the double-digit reduction Kentucky regularly logged in October, Beshear noted. There were 719 people hospitalized with the virus on Monday — down from 772 on Friday — including 191 in an intensive care unit and 105 on a ventilator.
Over the weekend, the state confirmed 2,308 new cases and 56 deaths. On Monday, Beshear announced 10 more deaths and 726 new cases.
In another plug for Kentuckians to get vaccinated — and for those eligible to get a booster dose — ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas, Beshear said he plans to “look at” expanding access to the booster for everyone who qualifies for a vaccine. Currently in Kentucky, only people over age 65, those living with certain immunocompromised conditions, and people who work in high-risk jobs are eligible for a booster dose.
“Everyone should be able to get a booster six months after their second shot as quickly as we can,” he said. “We as a country need to open it up to everybody.”
In the first week after vaccines earlier this month became available to children ages 5 to 11 nationwide, 15,163 kids in Kentucky — 4% of that population — got a dose. Beshear said he expects that amount to double this week. Roughly 58% of the state population is at least partially vaccinated, and just over 425,400 residents have gotten a booster.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 5:09 PM.
