CDC puts 57 Kentucky counties at medium COVID community level, another 6 at high

As temperatures drop, pushing more Kentuckians indoors, the number of counties across the state experiencing higher COVID-19 community levels are up.

Currently, six Kentucky counties are seeing “high” COVID-19 Community Levels, the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

Many more Kentucky counties – 57 in total – are at a medium. That’s more than double the amount one week ago, when 26 counties were experiencing medium COVID-19 community levels.

Further, those counties were mainly concentrated in Eastern Kentucky, while the current 57 cut a swath clear across the state. The remaining 57 counties are now at a “low” community levels, CDC data released Thursday shows.

COVID-19 community levels, as defined by the CDC, are a measure that assesses new cases per 100,000 people over one week, new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people over seven days and the percentage of inpatient beds taken up by COVID-positive individuals, a seven-day average.

The CDC measure is meant to shape public health guidance – with public indoor masking recommended for most people at the highest community level.

That said, some epidemiologists have criticized the metric as unclear and politically motivated, adding it denies individuals a fuller understanding of the risk they may face. Others, including a coalition of public health experts, scientists and health care workers called The People’s CDC, point out that coronavirus transmission rates remain high in most parts of the country.

Thursday, during his weekly press conference broadcast from Frankfort, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear cast the state of the coronavirus pandemic in a mostly positive light.

“Fewer Kentuckians are hospitalized right now than we’ve seen at any point during the last two years,” Beshear said.

Ahead of the new update Thursday from the CDC, Beshear was referencing a previous Oct. 23 report when he said cases were up “just a little bit.” Test positivity, on the other hand, was down, Beshear said. Fewer COVID-19 patients were being treated in intensive care units and fewer needed ventilators to breathe.

While describing these developments as “encouraging,” Beshear warned of potential danger ahead.

“We have cold weather coming. We have Thanksgiving and Christmas when people get together,” he noted, urging the public to get the initial COVID-19 vaccine series and the new bivalent booster.

“We need a lot more people to get the new booster, the omicron booster. It protects you not only from the current strains that are out there, but these strains that we’re hearing about in Europe and elsewhere. This booster appears to be effective for it,” Beshear said.

Should you get the COVID booster and flu shot together? What KY health officials say

Older Kentuckians especially need to get the booster before the holidays, Beshear said. The general public should also get their seasonal flu shots, which public health experts say are safe to get during the same visit for the vaccine booster.

The latest figures from the CDC show Kentucky added 9,004 COVID-19 cases during the previous seven days. The state’s positivity rate is between 8 and 9.9%, though the ubiquity of at-home testing has made this particular metric less reliable over time.

There were 70 new deaths to COVID-19 in Kentucky.

Where does Fayette County stand with COVID-19?

For now, Fayette County remains at a low COVID-19 community level, which comes with milder public health recommendations from the CDC.

The county saw 530 additional cases through Wednesday, the CDC reports. The positivity rate of Fayette County stands at 8.33%.

In its own report, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department announced 207 new cases between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21.

There were zero new deaths in its report, released Oct. 24.

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