17 Kentucky counties at high COVID-19 community level. Here’s the latest on new cases
Kentucky added 5,290 new COVID-19 cases in the latest reporting week, according to the data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention current as of Wednesday.
This comes as the threat of sub-zero wind chills pushed people indoors for the holiday weekend, and as Gov. Andy Beshear acknowledged a post-Thanksgiving bump in COVID-19 cases.
A total of 17 Kentucky counties were experiencing high COVID-19 community levels as of Dec. 22, according to the CDC’s COVID-19 Data Tracker.
The counties span the western and eastern halves of Kentucky and include Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman, Graves, McCracken, Livingston, Marshall, Lyon, Crittenden, Butler, Simpson, Monroe, Harrison, Robertson, Rowan, Johnson and Pike.
Another 42 Kentucky counties are at medium, while the remaining 61 were at low levels.
The change represents a slight uptick in the number of counties experiencing high community levels compared to the previous reporting period, while the number of counties at medium is sharply up — now at 42 from the previous week’s 28.
The CDC uses COVID-19 community levels to help shape public health recommendations. Residents living in communities experiencing high community levels, for example, should mask up when indoors in public spaces and practice physical distancing.
The federal agency defines community levels based on a county’s weekly total of new COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions, combined with the percentage of inpatient beds occupied by positive individuals, a seven-day average.
Along with the increase in cases, the CDC reported 51 additional coronavirus deaths across the state, current as of Dec. 21.
The Kentucky Department for Public Health did not update its community level map due to the holiday weekend. As of Monday, the state’s positivity rate was at 9.85%
Fayette County is currently at a low COVID-19 community level, according to the CDC.
The agency reported 342 additional cases here for the week through Dec. 21, with a weekly case rate of 105.83 per 100,000 people. That’s nearly a 40% increase from the previous week.
The positivity rate in Fayette County stands at 11.26%, nearly 3% higher than it was in the seven days leading up to Dec. 19, which was the latest date for which data was available.
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