As COVID-19 drops off in KY, Beshear pauses weekly updates: ‘We’re moving to a better place’
With seven consecutive weeks of declining COVID-19 cases in Kentucky and a positivity rate that’s now below 5%, Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday said it’s no longer necessary for him to hold weekly, live coronavirus updates.
“The top line today is, while we still have some struggles, while this pandemic is still with us . . . every metric is moving in the right direction,” the governor said from the state Capitol in Frankfort.
“We will now pause our Monday COVID press conferences, hoping to never have to unpause them,” said Beshear, who did not wear a mask to the briefing.
Kentucky is “moving to a better place,” he said, announcing that the positivity rate Monday had fallen to 4.17%. Last week, 9,532 new infections were reported statewide, down from roughly 12,000 the week before.
Deaths, however, have yet to drop off as markedly: 283 new COVID-19 deaths were confirmed last week.
Unvaccinated people continue to account for the majority of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the commonwealth. Between July 21, 2021 and March 9, 2022, 607 Kentuckians under the age of 50 died of COVID-19, Beshear said. Of those 607 people, 580 (nearly 96%) were unvaccinated, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Statistically, Beshear said, “What it says is if you’re vaccinated and under the age of 50, you do not die from COVID-19.”
But demand for vaccinations continues to dwindle.
“If there is one metric that is going in the wrong direction, it is vaccinations,” he said.
Last week, 6,459 people got a first dose, 8,045 people got a second dose, and 10,809 got a booster.
Roughly 65% of all Kentucky residents and 76% of all adults have received two doses of the vaccine, while 24% of the population and 31% of adults are boosted.
