The Grayson County Health Department (GCHD) on Wednesday reported 104 new COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in fewer than two days, as health department officials are now “recommending that gatherings be reconsidered” as the Omicron variant runs rampant through the county.
Those new cases come on the heels of the GCHD announcing 117 new cases were diagnosed between Wednesday, January 5, and Monday.
Grayson County has had 221 new cases reported in the last week and 429 in the last 16 days. There are 256 active cases in the county, up 71 since Monday and up 180 active cases — or 337 percent — since December 27 when there were 76 active cases.
“Grayson County is experiencing a high level of COVID-19 transmission at this time,” said county health director Josh Horton. “We are seeing an increase in data relating to the virus, (including) total active cases and deaths. The Grayson County Health Department continues to work with community partners to help address the increase in spread. At this time, the GCHD is recommending that gatherings be reconsidered.”
No new deaths were reported on Wednesday, leaving the county’s death toll to 109. Five deaths, an increase of two since Monday, are awaiting confirmation from state health officials.
Five people are currently hospitalized, two fewer hospitalizations than Monday.
There have now been 5,772 cases diagnosed in Grayson County since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
The county’s incident rate checked in at 86.5, up from Monday’s 80.0 and pushing Grayson County deeper into the “red.”
All bordering counties are also in the “red,” with Hardin County having the highest rate of occurrence at 199.8, followed by Ohio (146.5), Butler (83.2), Breckinridge (82.3), Edmonson (80.0), and Hart (72.8) counties.
An incident rate above 25.0 indicates a “critical spread” of the virus, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
