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| A UPS truck with Moderna vaccine got a police escort in Louisville. (Image from WAVE-TV) |
Kentucky Health News
As the second coronavirus vaccine arrived in Kentucky, new cases and hospitalizations for Covid-19 kept falling, but 26 more deaths continued a surge.
The state reported 1,765 new cases, fewer than reported on any of the last five Sundays. That kept pushing the seven-day rolling average down, to 2,761, the lowest since Nov. 30.
The decline “shows that the steps we have taken, the sacrifice to mitigate and slow the exponential growth of this virus, is working,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press release. “But remember, deaths track cases. And so, that exponential growth -- we’re seeing the harm from it right now.”
The first doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived at the United Parcel Service hub in Louisville just before 10 a.m. Kentucky's allocation is 76,700 doses, about double the amount of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine that arrived last week. (Another 27,300 Pfizer doses are expected this week.)
“We hope on Monday or Tuesday at the latest we will be giving that vaccine, especially to hospital workers all across this commonwealth,” Beshear said. The state has not revealed a distribution plan, beyond the 11 hospitals that got the Pfizer vials due to their locations an ultra-cold-storage capacity.
Vaccinations of nursing-home residents and employees, which are being handled by CVS and Walgreens, are to start Monday. After all health-care workers, Beshear has said first responders and K-12 educators would come next, but vaccines won't be generally available until summer.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee said Sunday that the vaccine should go next to people 75 and older, as well as workers key to the function of society, including teachers, police officers, firefighters, corrections officers and grocery workers.
The panel said the next phase should be for those who are 65 and older or have underlying medical conditions that raise their risk of severe Covid-19; and other essential workers aged 16 to 64, such as those who work in construction, waste disposal, trucking and food service.
“All of us have been affected in one or more ways by Covid-19,” Stack said. “Medically, economically, educationally and socially this pandemic has made 2020 hard for Kentucky and our nation. Thankfully, in Kentucky, we’ve made good progress, but we haven’t reached the finish line yet. Watching your space, wearing a mask and washing your hands is still critical to keep you and others safe. Your choices today will affect Kentuckians for years to come.”
The other 21 fatalities were a 78-year-old man in Adair County; an 86-year-old Ballard County woman; a Calloway County woman, 96; a Casey County man, 76; a Clinton County man, 74; a Fayette County woman, 67; a Graves County woman, 103; a Hancock County woman, 79; a Hardin County man, 59; a woman, 94, and a man, 92, in Hopkins County; two Jefferson County men, 73 and 86; a Muhlenberg County woman, 95; two Owsley County men, 55 and 89; a Pike County man, 81; a Rowan County man, 73; a in Spencer County man, 86; a Todd County woman, 88; and a Washington County woman, 81.
Late Sunday afternoon, Congress agreed on a $900 billion relief package that includes "a $300 boost in weekly unemployment benefits, $600 relief checks for individuals, more than $300 billion for small business aid and huge pots of money for schools, hospitals and vaccine distribution," Politico reports. "Negotiators left behind an attempt to marry a liability shield with aid for state and local governments after it proved impossible to negotiate."
Health Commissioner Steven Stack, in Beshear's press release, continued to remind Kentuckians to keep up their guard against the virus.
“All of us have been affected in one or more ways by Covid-19,” Stack said. “Medically, economically, educationally and socially this pandemic has made 2020 hard for Kentucky and our nation. Thankfully, in Kentucky, we’ve made good progress, but we haven’t reached the finish line yet. Watching your space, wearing a mask and washing your hands is still critical to keep you and others safe. Your choices today will affect Kentuckians for years to come.”
All metrics for the pandemic in Kentucky declined Sunday, except deaths and the share of residents testing positive for the virus in the last seven days; that is 8.73 percent, the highest since the 8.79% recorded Dec. 12.
Hospital numbers were down. Kentucky hospitals reported 1,607 Covid-19 patients (the fewest since Nov, 23), 403 of them in intensive care (the fewest since Dec. 7) and 226 on ventilators (down 10.7% from the day before).
Pressure on intensive-care units has declined in the past week. Three of the state's hospital readiness regions (Barren River, Lake Cumberland and the easternmost, from Lee to Pike counties) still have more than 80% of their ICU beds occupied but the highest is 83.8% (in the easternmost region).
Sunday's 26 confirmed deaths pushed the daily death averages to new highs: a seven-day mean of 27.1 and a 14-day mean of 23.2.
Five of the 26 deaths were in Southern Kentucky's Russell County, population about 18,000, which had a large surge of cases recently. One victim, a woman, was only 49. The others were women 85 and 88, and men 84 and 89.
Late Sunday afternoon, Congress agreed on a $900 billion relief package that includes "a $300 boost in weekly unemployment benefits, $600 relief checks for individuals, more than $300 billion for small business aid and huge pots of money for schools, hospitals and vaccine distribution," Politico reports. "Negotiators left behind an attempt to marry a liability shield with aid for state and local governments after it proved impossible to negotiate."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a floor speech, "As our citizens continue battling the coronavirus this holiday season, they will not be fighting alone. For workers at the hardest-hit small businesses, there will be a targeted second draw of the Paycheck Protection Program." He added, "We’re going to supply this emergency aid in a way that is smart and responsible. We will be repurposing more than $560 billion in money that was already set aside by the CARES Act — but not spent — toward these urgent needs."
The bill, which does a panoply of things, also includes long-debated legislation to solve problems with "surprise billing" in health care, Politico reports.
In other coronavirus news Sunday:
- Counties with 10 or more new cases were: Jefferson, 276; Fayette, 165; Warren, 114; Kenton, 99; Boone, 92; Campbell, 59; Carter, 54; Greenup, 39; McCracken, 36; Boyd and Hardin, 32; Daviess, 30; Whitley, 26; Christian, 25; Bullitt and Pulaski, 23; Boyle, McCreary and Muhlenberg, 22; Letcher, 20; Calloway, Franklin and Garrard, 19; Pike, 17; Johnson and Taylor, 16; Henderson, Madison and Scott, 15; Laurel, 13; Adair, 12; Jessamine, 12; Wayne and Woodford, 11; and Bell, Grant, Graves and Nelson, 10.
- Researchers at the University of California, San Diego report "facemasks do not significantly change the actual work of breathing or the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide when worn while exercising."
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