Due to the upcoming Christmas holiday, LCDHD offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday, December 23 and 24. There will be no reports available on those dates, but reports will resume on Monday, December 27. LCDHD staff will continue to work positive cases reported over the weekend.
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 was identified in Kentucky at the end of last week. It will only be a matter of time before it becomes the dominant strain here. While it seems it is highly transmissible, vaccination is still the best strategy to protect yourself and your families from serious illness and possible hospitalization. If you have not yet received your vaccination, please consider getting it now. Also, remember that boosters are strongly recommended for everyone after 6 months.
Of today’s 138 reported cases, 106 (77%) were unvaccinated and 18 of today’s cases (13%) were in individuals 18 years of age or younger. Please take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones. Consider getting the vaccine if you are eligible and haven’t, and wear a mask when in indoor settings where there are large crowds.
Statewide Testing Positivity Rate: 9.33%.
Deaths: We regret we must report 6 new deaths since our last report. We have experienced a total of 784 deaths resulting in a 1.76% mortality rate (about 1 in 57) among known cases. This compares with a 1.43% mortality rate at the state level and a 1.58% mortality rate at the national level. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families and friends who have lost loved ones.
Hospitalizations: We presently have 98 cases in the hospital. This is equal to what we reported in our last report. We have had a total of 1,845 hospitalizations resulting in a 4.15% hospitalization rate (about 1 in 24) among known cases. The state hospitalization rate is 4.12%. The latest data shows that 96.36% of Lake Cumberland’s ICU beds are filled, and 33.33% of ventilator capacity is being utilized.
Total (Cumulative) Cases: The Lake Cumberland District has experienced a total of 44,499 cases since the onset of the outbreak. This means that 21.3% of our total population has been a confirmed case. However, we do not know how many additional people may have had COVID-19 and were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and never tested.
Released (Not contagious) Cases: We released 80 cases since our last report from isolation. Released cases include: Adair: 9; Casey: 8; Clinton: 1; Cumberland: 1; Green: 3; McCreary: 8; Pulaski: 26; Russell: 7; Taylor: 6; and, Wayne: 11. In all, we have released 97.2% of our total cases.
Active (Current) Cases: Since our last report, we added 52 more cases than we had deceased and/or released cases. This leaves us with 457 active cases in our district across all 10 of our district’s 10 counties. On 09/03/2021 we were at our peak number of active cases, 1,711.
Where Did Cases Visit Prior to Isolation: The most common places cases visited prior to isolation are (in descending order): Schools, Family, Businesses, and Medical Facilities.
New Cases: We report that our total case count has increased by 138 since our last report. Our new cases (including suspect cases) are as follows: Adair: 13; Casey: 11; Clinton: 6; Cumberland: 4; Green: 2; McCreary: 15; Pulaski: 41; Russell: 11; Taylor: 9; and, Wayne: 26. Our current new case growth rate is: 1.00191. This means our total case count is projected to double every 362.7 days. The most new cases we ever added in a single day was on 09/07/2021 when we added 730 cases.
Tonight’s report includes 6 deaths: one Green County resident (unvaccinated), two McCreary County residents (both unvaccinated), two Pulaski County residents (both unvaccinated), and one Wayne County resident (vaccinated).
State and local vaccination rates can be found at the following link: https://dashboard.chfs.ky.gov/views/KYPublicFacingDashboard_16191000580170/KentuckyCOVID-19Vaccination?:iid=1&:isGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&:embed=y
