By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
There were 21 more COVID-19 related deaths reported in Kentucky on Sunday, along with 1,509 new cases.
However, both numbers are lower than a week ago, when there were 26 deaths and 1,765 new cases, which could be an indication of flattening the curve, or even the start of a decline. Kentucky has now seen 257,063 positive cases since the start of the pandemic, while 2,555 Kentuckians have lost their lives since the first death was reported in March.
Two counties reported more than 100 cases on Sunday, Jefferson with 169 and Fayette 101. The remainder of the top ten counties with the number of new cases were Henderson, Boone 63, Daviess 60, Kenton 56, Hardin 43, Bullitt 41, Calloway 40 and McCracken 37.
Another positive indicator in the battle against the coronavirus is that Sunday’s COVID incidence map showed Hickman County has reached the yellow zone, meaning 1-10 cases per 100,000 population. It also showed 15 counties at the orange level, meaning they have had 10-25 cases per 100,000 population. Kentucky’s remaining 104 counties are in the red zone, meaning their incidence rate is over 25 cases per 100,000 population.
Compare that to Dec. 23, when there were 117 red zone counties and only three at the orange level.
Kentucky’s positivity rate edged upward slightly, from Saturday’s 8.04% to 8.06% on Sunday, based on a seven-day rolling average. It had been as low as 7.95% on Christmas Day, before starting a slight increase.
Taking a wider view of the pandemic, there have been 80,642,813 confirmed cases globally as of Sunday, along with 1,762,303 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University. In the United States, confirmed cases have now reached 19,073,662, and 332,723 deaths.
To view the full daily COVID-19 report for Kentucky, which includes such information as the red zone counties and red zone recommendations, testing locations, the weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports for Kentucky, details on holiday gathering guidance, school reopening and more, go to kycovid19.ky.gov.
