‘It should shock you.’ Omicron pushes KY’s COVID numbers into unprecedented territory.
Omicron is throttling Kentucky, where health officials continue to clock unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 cases, solidifying a reality many have feared: Hospitals will again be strained, Gov. Andy Beshear said on Monday.
Last week brought a staggeringly high number of new cases, dwarfing all other weeks in the pandemic: 52,603, nearly double the previous weekly record of 30,680 new cases.
“We have never seen an escalation like this,” the governor said in an afternoon news update of the exponential growth. “It should shock you. If it [continues to] spread at the rate we’re seeing, it is certainly going to fill up our hospitals.”
By Monday, the positivity rate reached 26.33%, up from 25.84% on Sunday. That means more than one in every four people getting tested is positive. “We have never seen that before,” Beshear said.
At the start of the week, 5,049 new cases and 14 deaths were confirmed, including a 21-year-old man from Johnson County and a 34-year-old man from Jefferson County. Over the weekend, the state reported 11,985 new coronavirus cases — 6,750 on Saturday and 5,235 Sunday — as well as 53 deaths.
More so than in any other stage of the pandemic, “the omicron phase is both remarkable and distinctive from prior surges,” Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack said, referencing the speed at which omicron spreads. “We are now nearly at a vertical spike, the likes of which dwarf all prior escalations. In a matter of weeks, the commonwealth has gone from roughly “half our delta peak to more than double our delta peak,” he said.
The volume of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has increased by 17% in the last seven days, and 134 adult intensive care unit beds are open. As has been the case in previous surges, the primary concern is not physical space, but available staff, and with omicron’s high transmissibility, “we are seeing spread in hospitals among staff,” Beshear said, which is a “serious concern.”
The governor on Monday said he again authorized the deployment of roughly 450 Kentucky National Guard members to hospitals, which are in need of extra assistance due to both a rising number of coronavirus patients and too few staff. More than a third of the state’s 96 acute care hospitals have reported critical staffing shortages, he said.
“Even if omicron remains a milder disease, with our hospitals already struggling now, the next few weeks could get much worse,” Stack said.
As schools return from the holiday break, many to districts that have mask-optional policies, Dr. Stack said it is imperative school districts and workplaces consider again requiring universal masking, which he said is “essential with omicron.”
“If workplaces and schools don’t do these things, omicron will run through like a wildfire and quickly shut places, as entire offices, assembly lines, and classrooms are idled, not by government, but by absent, ill employees and students,” he said. It is likely whole schools will be shut down because of “massive student and staff absences due to illness.”
Twenty-three children and teenagers are currently hospitalized with coronavirus statewide, four are in ICUs, and three are on a ventilator. “If you are sick, stay home,” he said.
At least 1,873 people were hospitalized on Monday with COVID-19 (an increase of 294 people in the last week); 452 are in an ICU (79 more people than a week ago); and 238 are breathing on a ventilator (33 more people).
Over the weekend, 11,672 people got a first dose of the vaccine, 7,122 got a second, and 23,283 were boosted. A little over 54% of the state population is fully vaccinated, and 21% are boosted.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 5:09 PM.
