On Friday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported over 2,600 new COVID-19 cases in Kentucky.
The 2,612 new cases give the state 7,412 cases over the last three days, and raises the total number of cases diagnosed in the commonwealth to 495,132. Of the cases reported Friday, 525 (20.1 percent) are children 18 or younger.
(During July, 2,092 children 18 and younger contracted coronavirus after 534 infections in the same age group were reported in June.)
The positivity rate continues to increase, as the metric checked in at 10.46 percent, up from Thursday’s 10.27 percent.
Spurred by unvaccinated individuals and the Deltal variant, 976 people are hospitalized (up 37 patients from Thursday), with 286 patients in intensive care (up four). One-hundred-twenty-one people are on ventilators (up 13) — By comparison, on July 1, 201 people were hospitalized, with 55 people being treated in an ICU. Twenty-five patients were on a ventilator. The positivity rate on July 1 stood at 1.99 percent.
Six deaths were announced Friday, increasing the state’s death toll to 7,372 (1.5 percent fatality rate).
Kentucky nearly all red
As of Friday, 98 Kentucky counties were in the “red,” including Grayson County, indicating a “critical spread” of the virus, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Grayson County on Friday recorded a 34.6 incident rate, meaning 34.6 cases per day per 100,000 residents have been diagnosed over the last seven days, well over the incident rate of at least 25 needed to be considered in the “red.”
Of the counties bordering Grayson County, Hart County has an 87.8 incident rate, while Hardin County has a 46.1 rate of occurrence. Ohio County posted a 42.9, Breckinridge County 41.2 and Butler County 38.8.
Edmonson County is the only bordering county with an incident rate below 25, as the county has a 21.2 rate of occurrence over the last week.
The Grayson County Health Department said 30 people were tested at the health department on Friday, with seven (23.3 percent) people testing positive for the virus.
(Photos: Headline photo is Kentucky’s rate of occurrence chart for Friday, August 6, 2021. Below is the rate of occurrence chart from June 21, 2021.)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
