Almost all of Ky. has a low risk of Covid-19, CDC says; its data now rule: New York Times ends daily data reporting, citing less frequency of states’ data

By Al Cross Published March 24, 2023 CORONAVIRUS, FEATURED, YOUR HEALTH

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

All but five of Kentucky’s 120 counties have a low risk of Covid-19 transmission, according to the latest federal risk map.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map, which is based on new corinavirus cases and Covid-19 hospital numbers, shows that the only Kentucky counties with a medium level of Covid-19 risk are Rowan, Elliott, Menifee, Morgan and Pike, shown in yellow on the map.

The CDC advises those in medium-risk counties, and those anywhere 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 week of March 16-22, The New York Times ranked Kentucky’s new case rate 24th among the states, with a 10 percent drop in cases in the last two weeks.

Earlier in the week, the Times announced that after more than three years of daily reporting on the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in every county in the U.S., it will be ending its daily Covid data-gathering operation. The Times will continue to report virus data from the CDC weekly on a new set of tracking pages.

“This change was spurred by the declining availability of virus data from state and local health officials,” the Times said. “Since few states report more than once a week (and some no longer report data to the public at all), the weekly data reports from the CDC have become the most reliable source of information on the virus’s spread.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map

The CDC also provides a community level transmission map, largely used by health-care facilities and researchers, that shows the level of virus in each county, at one of four levels. The latest map shows five counties with a low level of transmission and 57 with a medium level; the rest are either substantial or high. The state says residents should take their guidance from the other map.