Coronavirus cases in Kentucky have dropped for four weeks in a row, and Covid-19 hospital numbers in state remain low

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

New coronavirus cases in Kentucky last week were 9 percent lower than the week before. It is the fourth week in a row that the state has seen declining cases.

The state Department for Public Health‘s latest weekly report says there were 3,289 new cases of the virus last week, or nearly 470 cases per day. Of those, 17% were people 18 and younger.

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days was 8.78%, down from 10.14% the week before. These numbers do not reflect at-home testing.

The weekly new-case rate was 9.23 cases per 100,000 residents, down from 11.16 in the prior weekly report. The top 10 counties were Garrard, 25.1; Clinton, 23.8; Simpson, 19.2; Powell, 18.5; Trigg, 17.6; Russell, 17.5; Lewis, 17.2; Morgan, 17.2; Greenup, 16.7;  and Hickman, 16.3.

The New York Times ranks Kentucky’s seven-day case rate 14th among states, with a 33% drop in cases in the last two weeks.

Kentucky’s  hospital numbers related to Covid-19 continue to be low. The state’s hospitals reported 300 patients with Covid-19 on Monday, 59 fewer than the prior week; 46 Covid-19 patients were in intensive care, up two; and 15 were on mechanical ventilation, the same as the week before.

The state attributed 39 more deaths to Covid-19 last week, down from 56 the week before. The state’s pandemic death toll is now 18,094.