Kentucky’s decline from the peak of the pandemic has been steeper than the nation’s; vaccination rate now 24th among states
Washington Post map, adapted by Kentucky Health News, shows rates in bordering and nearby states and Puerto Rico, the national leader.
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Kentucky Health News
The decline of new coronavirus cases in Kentucky has been steeper than the national decline from the peak in early September.
Wednesday’s seven-day average of new cases in Kentucky, 1,320 per day, was 70 percent lower than the average at the peak of the pandemic in the state on Sept. 5, which was 4,398 per day.
The national seven-day average of infections on Wednesday was about 69,000, “reflecting a 58% drop from the latest surge’s peak around Sept. 13, when the average for that week was 164,475,” The Washington Post reports.
The New York Times, also using data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says new cases in Kentucky have declined 36% in the last 14 days, the fifth fastest rate in the nation.
“The effect of vaccinations is clear in regions with the highest uptick,” Post reporter Andrew Jeong writes, noting a huge reduction in cases in Puerto Rico, where 73% of the population is fully vaccinated. “But a handful of states are still struggling to turn the tide, especially as colder weather brings more people indoors again. In Montana, 45 out of every 100,000 people are hospitalized because of covid-19 — the highest rate in the country. Just over half of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, below the national rate of 57.5 percent.”
Kentucky is slightly behind the national rate, with 54.6% fully vaccinated. That is 24th among the states, but better than all bordering states except Virginia’s 63%. Kentucky now ranks just ahead of No. 25 Illinois, which long had a slightly better rate than Kentucky but is now at 54.4%.