Every metric used to measure Covid-19 in Ky. went up last week; weekly report shows big jumps in youth cases, ICU patients

Kentucky Health News graph, from state data; to enlarge, click on it.

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

All the metrics to measure the impact of the coronavirus in Kentucky went up last week, with new cases up 15.6 percent, a big jump in the share of youth among the new cases, the most Covid-19 patients in intensive care since early March, a positive-test rate over 20%, and the highest new-case incidence rate the state has seen in more than six months.

The state's latest report for the Monday-through-Sunday reporting week showed 14,312 new cases, up from 12,381 the previous week. The daily average increased to 2,044 from 1,769. 

Of the week's new cases, 37% were in people 18 and younger, the highest this number has been in some time and a one-fourth higher than the week before. This increase among young people comes as school districts across the state—many of them in counties that the CDC risk map shows have high risk of Covid-19 transmission—open their doors to students and only one district (Jefferson County) with mandatory masking.

The big increase among Kentuckians 18 and younger "could be a result of school openings or other factors," said Susan Dunlap, spokeswoman for the state Department for Public Health. "We continue to recommend that everyone 6 months of age and older stay up to date with their Covid-19 vaccinations and receive any booster doses, when eligible."

The statewide incidence rate of new cases was 46.98 cases per 100,000 residents, up from 41.07 the week before. The rate is the highest it's been since Feb. 22, when the state was still issuing daily reports.

The counties with the 10 highest rates were Wolfe, 173.7; Harlan, 162.6; Rockcastle, 147.2; Perry, 130.9; Powell, 130.6; Menifee, 105.7; Bath, 105.1; Knox, 105.0; Whitley, 97.3; and Morgan, 95.5.

Kentucky continues to the nation's second highest rate of new cases in the last seven days, according to The New York Times, which ranks Tennessee first among the states and its Scott County (on the Kentucky border) first among U.S. counties, with Harlan County, Kentucky, second. Third is Jefferson County, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Carroll and Trimble counties; sixth is Perry County; and eighth is Macon County, Tennessee, which borders Allen and Monroe counties.

State officials say their figures and those in the Times differ due to methodology, such as use of duplicate results. 

The state report showed the percentage of Kentuckians testing positive for the coronavirus in the last seven days increased to 20.07%, up from 18.96% the week prior. The numbers do not include results of at-home tests.

The report showed 621 patients with Covid-19 in Kentucky hospitals, up from 570 the week earlier. Those in intensive care increased to 104, up from 76, a jump of 37%. Those on mechanical ventilation increased by two, to 28. 

Two of the state's eight hospital regions are using more than 90% of their ICU hospital capacity, though the number of Covid-19 patients in them remains low. 

The state attributed 76 more deaths to Covid-19. That was up from 63 the week before. The state's pandemic death toll is 16,679.