Kentucky begins preparing COVID-19 case surge

Coming off the heels of some of the highest weeks of newly confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky, this week started with the state seeing the highest Monday total of new cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

“(647) is our highest number of cases that we’ve ever seen on a Monday,” said Gov. Andy Beshear during his press briefing on Monday. “At a time when we need cases to be going down, when more people are going to be going inside, when our kids are going back or will be back in school, we need to do better. If we want to keep doing some of the activities that we’re doing now, we need to keep doing better.”

On Tuesday, Beshear said as COVID-19 cases continue to increase, the state is beginning to prepare for a fall and winter surge in cases.

Tuesday marked the fourth-highest number of daily COVID-19 cases reported in the commonwealth with 1,312 cases. This is also the first time since

August that the state’s positivity rate has been higher than 5% at 5.08%.

“Today’s report is grim. It is grim because it shows that we are not just continuing in our third escalation, but this one is probably now the second most worrisome escalation we have seen surpassed only by that original March increase,” said Beshear.

The Green River District Health Department, which includes Ohio County, is continuing to see an increase in cases. While Ohio County entered the “red zone” on the state’s coronavirus dashboard incidence rate last Tuesday, as of Tuesday afternoon it remains back in the “orange zone” at 21.4, which is classified as “accelerated spread” compared to over 25 in the red which is considered critical.

The 7-Day incidence rate is calculated by taking the total number of unique cases in each county over the past 7 days, divided by 7 to get a daily average, divided by the U.S. census bureau county population, and multiplied by 100,000 to get the incidence per 100,000 people.

Counties in the GRADD area in red include Union at 52.6, McLean at 57.4, Henderson at 38.6 and Webster at 37.5. Daviess and Hancock are the only GRADD counties in orange.

The GRADD district currently has 834 active cases with Ohio County residents making up 90 of those.

During his Friday briefing on social media, Judge-Executive David Johnston said that GRADD had as many deaths in the month of October as it had in all the previous months since the beginning.

As of Tuesday, 42 of Kentucky’s 120 were in the red zone.

“October is on pace to be our highest ever number of coronavirus cases reported within a month,” said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public Health. “We’re in the midst of an escalation in cases and our hospitalizations are increasing now, too. As the holidays approach, it’s imperative to limit further spread. Practice social distancing, wear a face covering and practice good hand hygiene to reduce your chances of contracting COVID-19.”

Daily coronavirus cases in the country are at levels not seen since the summer with more than a dozen states setting record highs for Covid-19 hospitalizations in the past week.

Last week, Kentucky Department for Public Health, an agency of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, announced an initial, comprehensive draft plan for distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to local health departments and health care organizations.

The first shipment of the vaccine is anticipated for delivery in late 2020 or early 2021 to Kentucky from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public Health, shared new details from that plan, including the phases for distribution outlined in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine.

“Initially, we’ll have to target certain populations to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible to the people who need it most,” said Gov. Beshear. “As we go forward in months from there, we’ll have progressively larger quantities of vaccine, and then we’re cautiously hopeful that by the time we reach the end of next year, everybody who has wanted the vaccine will have had the chance to have one.

Gov. Beshear said the timetable for making a safe coronavirus vaccine available to Kentuckians ultimately is dependent on how quickly one is developed and mass produced for distribution.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been 89,544 total positive COVID-19 cases in the state of Kentucky. There have been 1,342 deaths attributed to the virus.