By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
New cases of COVID-19 fell on Sunday in Kentucky, as did the number of deaths and hospitalizations, while the positivity rate rose.
There were 368 cases reported to state public health officials, nearly 21% of which involved people 18 years of age and younger. While this is the fourth consecutive day of declines, it should be noted that some labs are closed or do not report test results during the weekend. To add some context, last Sunday the number was 325, or 37 lower than this Sunday.
Seven counties had new cases in the double digits: Jefferson 92, Fayette 33, Daviess 17, Boone 14, Hopkins and Warren each 11, and Shelby 10.
Kenton County reported 6 cases and Campbell County 3.
This raises Kentucky’s pandemic total cases to 445,139.
Kentucky’s positivity rate on Sunday was 3.43%, based on a seven-day rolling average of tests versus positive results. That number, which Gov. Andy Beshear has said is a trend indicator for the future, has now risen four days in a row. Last Sunday it stood at 3.18%.
Three new deaths came in from local health departments, with one more from the ongoing audit of death certificates issued that were issued during last fall and winter. Kentucky has now lost 6,517 people due to the coronavirus.
Location and age information on the latest victims was not available.
The hospital census Sunday indicated there were 416 people hospitalized due to COVID-19. Of them, 106 were in the ICU and 48 on a ventilator. While the number of patients on a ventilator was unchanged from Saturday, the other two figures represented a decline.
The number of Kentuckians who have received at least one dose of the vaccines has now risen to 1,768,443. That means the state is now a little over 731,000 away from reaching the governor’s 2.5 million vaccine challenge mark, at which time he has said he will lift most capacity restrictions on businesses and venues holding up to 1,000 people. There are over 500 vaccination sites around the state. Kentuckians can visit vaccinemap.ky.gov to find the ones nearest them. To see Kentucky’s full daily COVID-19 report, go to kycovid19.ky.gov.
