Pandemic numbers keep falling, except positive-test rate: 3.98%

Dept. for Public Health map, adapted by Ky. Health News; for a larger version, click on it.

By Al Cross

Kentucky Health News

All major measures of the pandemic in Kentucky fell again Saturday, except the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the novel coronavirus. That rose 0.1 percentage point, to 3.98%.

The state reported 679 new cases of the virus, the lowest for a Saturday since Aug. 15. That lowered the seven-day rolling average of new cases by 23, to 800 per day, about where it was at the end of September.

The Department for Public Health added 16 more deaths to its list of Covid-19 victims, 13 confirmed and three probable, for a total of 4,966. The 14-day average is down to 24.4 deaths per day; a month ago it was 40. The high of 45.3 was on Feb. 6 and 7. Deaths are listed after reviews that can take weeks.

The percentage of deaths involving residents of long-term-care facilities fell again, to 47.7%. State officials have attributed the trend to the priority given vaccinations for residents and staff in the facilities.

As usual on weekends, the state did not issue a list of the newly added fatalities by age, sex and county.

Lyon County continued to have the nation's highest rate of new cases in the last seven days, mainly due to an outbreak among inmates and staff at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville. The state's daily report said Lyon County's rate was 823 cases per 100,000 residents, and the state's rate was 13.65.

Other counties with rates above the statewide rate were Knox, 37.2; Carroll, 36.3; Owsley, 32.4; Clay, 29.4; Laurel; 27.5; Powell, 26.6; Bell, 25.8; Butler, 24.4; Simpson, 23.8; Adair, 22.3; Green, 22.2; Whitley, 21.3; Rowan, 19.9; Scott, 19.3; McCreary, 18.2; Trimble, 16.9; Ohio, 16.7; Wayne, 16.2; Morgan, 16.1; Jackson, 16.1; LaRue, 15.9; Nelson, 15.8; Pendleton, 15.7; Washington, 15.4; Martin, 15.3; Russell, 15.1; Hopkins, 15; Harlan, 14.8; Caldwell, 14.6; Garrard, 14.6; Barren, 14.5; Taylor, 14.4; Pulaski, 14.1; Jessamine, Lawrence and Clinton, 14; Todd, 13.9; and Logan, 13.7.

Counties with more than five new cases were: Jefferson, 104; Lyon, 97; Fayette, 42; Hardin, 22; Clark, 21; Warren, 17; Laurel, 16; Daviess, 15; Hopkins, 14; Madison, Nelson, 13; McCracken, 12; Barren, Boone and  Kenton, 11; Bell, Clay and Knox, 9; McCreary, Powell and Taylor, 81; Perry and Pike, 7; and Campbell, Johnson, Morgan, Pulaski and Rowan, 6.

Only one of the state's 10 hospital readiness regions reported more than 80% of its intensive-care beds in use: Lake Cumberland, at 84.4%, with just over a fourth of those beds occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Other hospital numbers on the state's daily report remained stable; there are 519 Covid-19 patients, 121 of them in intensive care and 71 of those on ventilators. The percentage of ICU patients being ventilated fell to 59%, still higher than usual but well below the apparent record 70% seen on Friday.