Kentucky Covid-19 cases rise 9%, and hospital cases jump 25%, but for the first time in weeks fewer than 60 residents died from it

Kentucky Department for Public Health table, adapted by Kentucky Health News

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

New coronavirus cases in Kentucky increased by nearly 9 percent last week and the number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals jumped 25%, but the positive-test rate went down, and so did the death rate.

The state Department for Public Health's weekly report for the latest Monday-to-Sunday reporting period said there were 5,712 new cases last week, or an average of 816 per day. That was 9% higher than the week before, when the state reported 749 new cases per day. 

Fifteen percent of the new cases were in people 18 and younger, down from 25% the prior week. 

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days was 8.31%, down from 9.17% the prior week. These numbers do not include at-home tests. 

Kentucky hospitals reported 332 Covid-19 patients on Monday, an increase of 67 from the week before; 40 of them were in intensive care, the same as the week prior; and 13 were on mechanical ventilation, up two. A New York Times graph showed that most of the increase was among people 70 and older.

The state's rate of new Covid-19 cases was 12.98 per 100,000 residents, up from 12.14 the week earlier. The top 10 counties were Cumberland, 32.4; Metcalfe, 29.8; Muhlenberg, 29.4; Trimble, 28.7; McCreary, 27.4; Simpson, 23.1; Bath, 22.9; Trigg, 22.4; Knott, 22.2; and Elliott, 20.9 per 100,000.

The New York Times ranks Kentucky's infection rate fifth among states, with a 13% increase in cases in the last two weeks. 

The state attributed 41 more deaths to Covid-19 last week, increasing the Kentucky pandemic death toll to 17,363. Covid-19 deaths have ranged between 60 and 80 for several weeks.