Vast majority of Kentucky continues to have low risk of Covid-19

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

All but 10 of Kentucky’s 120 counties have a low risk of Covid-19 infection on the latest federal risk map, and Menifee County is the only one considered to have a high risk.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention risk map, which considers both new cases and Covid-19 hospital numbers, shows Menifee as the only high-risk county, in orange. Counties with a medium risk of transmission are in yellow, and those with a low risk are in green.

Counties with medium risk are Harrison and Robertson; Elliott, Morgan and Rowan (the latter two border Menifee); and Clay, Knox, Laurel and Whitley.

In high-risk counties, the CDC continues to recommend that you wear a well-fitting, high-quality mask in public indoor spaces, and if you are at high risk of getting very sick, consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed.

If you live in a medium or high-risk county, the CDC advises those who are at high risk of getting very sick to wear a well-fitting mask when indoors and in public and to consider getting tested before having social contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick and consider wearing a mask when indoors when you are with them.

In the last seven days, The New York Times ranks Kentucky’s new-case rate 13th among the states, with a 41% drop in cases in the last two weeks. The Times has Menifee County’s rate at 6.6 per 10,000 residents and the state’s rate at 0.9 per 10,000 (or 9 per 100,000).

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The CDC also provides a community transmission level map, largely used by researchers and health-care facilities, that shows the level of virus in each county, at one of four levels. The map shows six counties with low levels of transmission and 62 with a medium level; the rest have either substantial or high risk.