More Kentucky counties face high or medium COVID-19 levels. Should you mask up?

Ninety Kentucky counties are experiencing a low COVID-19 community level amid what Gov. Andy Beshear called the “seventh straight week of decreased cases or plateauing” in the commonwealth.

Beshear heralded that development Thursday during his weekly news conference broadcast from Frankfort. While it’s an encouraging sign, he also acknowledged it doesn’t capture the full picture of where the coronavirus pandemic stands in Kentucky.

“We’re getting close to some of the lowest numbers – though there’s not as much reporting of cases as there used to be. So at this period that we’re in, I think you should reasonably expect all of the numbers to be higher,” Beshear said Thursday.

Kentucky’s positivity rate, Beshear pointed out, has also increased during each of the past two weeks.

“I don’t think we should be alarmed, but we should be cognizant that (the coronavirus) is still out there and we ought to watch this pretty closely,” he said.

There are other encouraging signs, Beshear noted. There are fewer COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals, and the number of them taking up beds in hospitals’ intensive care units is at an “all-time low.”

“We have better treatments than ever,” Beshear said, adding that “if you have been both vaccinated and boosted – especially got the new omicron booster – your odds of going to the hospital are incredibly, incredibly low.”

COVID-19 community levels in Kentucky

The latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker indicates more counties are seeing greater impacts from the virus this week than the previous one.

Four eastern Kentucky counties are experiencing high COVID-19 community levels, as defined by the CDC. That’s up from just one county last week. Those counties are Floyd, Johnson, Letcher and Magoffin.

The remaining 26 Kentucky counties, mainly concentrated in the eastern half of the state, are currently at a medium level.

That “community level” metric aims to track the strain COVID-19 is placing onto communities’ health care systems, though some epidemiologists have criticized the CDC’s measure as misleading to the public.

The latest COVID-19 community levels were calculated Thursday using:

1. New COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people (weekly total from Oct. 13 to Oct. 19)

2. New COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people (weekly total)

3. The percentage of inpatient beds that are occupied by COVID-19 patients (weekly average using data from Oct. 12 to Oct. 18)

The CDC metric is also used to inform guidance about what protective measures people should take based on the community level in their area.

When the COVID-19 community level is high, the CDC advises people:

• Wear a high-quality mask or respirator when indoors in public

• If you are at high risk of getting very sick, consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed

If the COVID-19 community level is medium and high, you should also:

• If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick, consider self-testing to detect infection before contact and consider wearing a high-quality mask when indoors with them

At all COVID-19 community levels:

• Stay up to date on vaccination, including boosters

• Maintain ventilation improvements

• Avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19

• Follow guidelines for isolation if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19

• Follow the recommendations for what to do if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19

• If you are at high risk of getting very sick, talk with a health care provider about additional prevention actions

As of Oct. 19, the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker reported 5,067 additional cases over the previous week and 94 new deaths.

Data from Oct. 17, the latest available, puts Kentucky’s positivity rate at between 8 and 9.9%.

COVID-19 in Fayette County

Fayette County is among the 26 counties currently experiencing a medium COVID-19 community level. According to data through to Oct. 19, there were 175 total cases over the previous reporting week and fewer than 10 new deaths.

The positivity rate in Fayette County is 7.31%.

Do you have a question about the coronavirus in Kentucky for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.