Covid-19 hospitalizations in Ky. and U.S. at new highs; positive-test rate passes 10%; second highest day for new virus cases

State Department for Public Health map, with additional labels by Kentucky Health News

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

As the pandemic set more records in Kentucky and the nation, Gov. Andy Beshear announced allocations of the first doses of the first coronavirus vaccine expected to be approved.

The state reported 3,895 new cases of the virus Thursday, second only to the 4,151 it reported Tuesday, and 1,810 covid-19 patients in Kentucky hospitals, beating Wednesday's record of 1,768, an increase of 2.4 percent in one day.

Also, the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days is 10.07%, the highest since testing became widely available in May.

Beshear announced 34 more deaths from covid-19, following a record 37 on Wednesday and 35 on Tuesday. That total of 106 was the highest three-day figure yet. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths, which has increased every day this week, is now 21. The state's death toll is 2,014.

"Today we’ve passed some tough milestones both in the country and here in Kentucky," Beshear said. "Today is the toughest day this country has ever seen in covid-19," from deaths and hospitalizations. "It ought to show us and tell us that it is more important right now now than ever that we do the right things to protect ourselves and those around us."

The good news, Beshear said, is "We believe that we could be vaccinating people here in Kentucky as early as December 15," starting with 38,000 doses for frontline health-care workers and residents of nursing homes. The vaccine will come from Pfizer Inc., which could get federal approval Dec 10.

Beshear announced that two-thirds of the state's first allocation of the vaccine will go to CVS and Walgreens, which have contracts with the federal government to vaccinate residents of long-term care facilities, and 12,675 doses will go to 11 hospitals selected for their locations and ability to provide ultra-cold storage needed for that vaccine.

Beshear said the two firms will handle logistics of nursing-home vaccinations, but "we believe and hope" that all 50,000 residents and staff can be vaccinated in the first eight weeks, as other shipments come to the state.

The initial shipment from Pfizer will be about one-third of what the state first expected, because of the company's supply-chain problems, and thus will not be enough to immunize all hospital workers or nursing-home residents and staff in the first round of vaccinations.

The 11 hospitals are in Paducah, Madisonville, Bowling Green, Louisville (3), Lexington (2), Edgewood, Corbin and Pikeville. Each will get a pallet of 975 doses, except the University of Kentucky hospital in Lexington and Norton Healthcare in Louisville will each get two pallets.

Each hospital will determine which employees will get vaccinated in the first round, based on their likelihood of exposure to the virus. "We are going to be spreading this out in future allocations," Beshear said. "Even if you’re not part of this very first shipment, it’s exciting there IS a shipment. … We need to be patient."

Schools: Beshear noted that all but seven of Kentucky's 120 counties are in the state's red zone, representing the highest level of infection, which means elementary schools in the other 113 will not be able to resume in-person instruction Monday. Beshear said he hoped that schools in the seven counties will open "on a lower-capacity basis." Those counties are Breckinridge, Crittenden, Green, Adair, Russell, Nicholas and Breathitt.

On Nov. 18, Beshear banned in-person schooling from Nov. 23 to Jan. 4, except for elementaries not in red-zone counties. He said the state is working on ways that "some form of in-person learning" can resume Jan. 4 in counties that are still red. He said schools would be required to have safeguards for employees, who are more vulnerable to the virus than students, and "meaningful" options for remote instruction.

Arethia Tilford was 57.

Beshear memorialized the life of Arethia Tilford of Louisville, who died of covid-19 at the age of 57 after 25 days in hospital. He said her husband, Mark, dropped her off at the emergency room and got a call from her shortly afterward saying she was being put on a ventilator. It was their final conversation.

Beshear said Mark Tilford called his wife "the most unselfish, charismatic person he had ever met . . . the most beautiful person, inside and out." An attendance clerk at Lincoln Elementary Performing Arts School, "She always said when you can't find the sunshine, be the sunshine," Beshear said. 

The 34 covid-19 deaths confirmed Thursday were a woman, 65, and two men, 63 and 69, from Barren County; a Bell County woman, 86; two Caldwell County women, 87 and 93; two Christian County women, 71 and 76; a Crittenden County man, 50; a Daviess County woman, 96; seven women, 65, 78, 87, 90, 94, 95 and 96, and two men, 81 and 93, from Fayette County; a 101-year-old Graves County woman; a Greenup County woman, 64; a Hickman County woman, 69; two Jefferson County women, 82 and 94; a Marion County man, 62; a McCracken County woman, 94; a Metcalfe County woman, 76; a 91-year-old woman and an 88-year-old man from Oldham County; two women, 74 and 92, and two men, 84 and 88, from Warren County; and a Woodford County man, 68.

In other coronavirus news Thursday:

• Of the 1,810 covid-19 patients in Kentucky hospitals, 415 are in intensive care and 240 of those are on ventilators, just short of records.
• Counties with more than 10 new cases were: Jefferson, 683; Fayette, 373; Hardin, 147; Kenton, 132; Boone, 110; McCracken, 103; Warren, 97; Daviess, 84; Madison, 81; Bullitt, 71; Perry, 65; Graves, 60; Campbell, 59; Greenup, 59; Christian, 54; Hart, 51; Nelson, 49; Ohio, 48; Calloway, 46; Oldham, Shelby and Whitley, 45; Laurel, 43; Mason, 41; Boyd and Clark, 40; Woodford, 39; Franklin, 35; Jessamine, 34; Hopkins, 33; Barren, 32; Henderson, 32; Lincoln, 31; Lewis, Meade and Mercer, 29; Clay and Muhlenberg, 27; Marion and Rowan, 26; Boyle and Pulaski, 25; Harlan and McCreary, 24; Grayson, 23; Bell and Taylor, 22; Carter and Pike, 21; Garrard, Montgomery, Rockcastle and Simpson, 20; Knox, 19; Scott, 18; Allen and Floyd, 17; Fleming, 16; Marshall, 15; Grant, Lawrence, Logan and Spencer, 14; Bourbon, Carroll, Powell and Wayne, 13; Anderson, Henry and Metcalfe, 12;  and Washington, 11.
• Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that he expects the next three months to be "the most difficult time in the public-health history of this nation," largely because of the pandemic's stress on the health-care system.