Pandemic numbers keep falling, except daily Covid-19 deaths

The pandemic kept declining in Kentucky Friday, but the state still had the sixth highest rate of new coronavirus infections among the states.

The state reported 4,693 new cases, lowering the seven-day rolling average by more than 500, to 5,527. That’s 27 percent less than a week earlier.

But most other states have seen similar declines, so the state’s infection rate remains sixth, and some Kentucky counties are national hotspots, according to The New York Times’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The Times says Estill and Perry counties’ rates are fourth and fifth in the U.S., behind the northern Tennessee counties of Scott, Unicoi and Overton. The daily report from the Kentucky Department for Public Health says the state’s top five counties are Owsley, Estill, Wolfe, Lee and Perry. The state says it uses different methodology, including removal of duplicate test results.

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days is 20.09% and has dropped for 19 straight days since hitting a high of 33.1% Jan. 23.

The seven day-average of patients with Covid-19 in Kentucky hospitals has fallen 10 days in a row. The hospitals reported 2,029 patients with the disease, 88 fewer than Thursday; 385 in intensive care, down by nine; and 187 on mechanical ventilation, down eight.

Eight of the state’s 10 hospital regions reported more than 80% of their intensive-care beds occupied; the Barren River region, which includes Bowling Green, was highest at 97.6%. The far western region, which includes Paducah, was at 96% and had the highest share of ICU beds occupied by Covid-19 patients, 39%.

The state attributed 46 more deaths to Covid-19, the largest daily total in two months. Deaths, a lagging indicator, have been creeping up; the seven-day average is 34 per day, up from 27 just 10 days ago. The state has attributed 13,300 deaths to Covid-19.