Kentucky's coronavirus infection rate is still 3rd in the nation, and 12 of the top 25 counties are in Kentucky, New York Times says

National Geographic map, adapted by Kentucky Health News; to enlarge, click on it.

Kentucky's coronavirus infection rate over the last seven days is still the nation's third-highest, and its rate has remained stable for the last two weeks while Tennessee and West Virginia moved ahead of it in rankings by The New York Times.

The Times, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, says the state has has 91 daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last week, a decline of only 1 percent over the last 14 days. West Virginia's rate is 92 and Tennessee's is 100, the Times says.

Kentucky reports lower rates for itself, most recently 82 per 100,000 residents. State health officials have said they remove duplicate test results from their data, which results in lower rates of positive tests.

In the Times rankings, 12 of the top 25 counties are in Kentucky, which has smaller counties than most states. Those counties are their rates are: Perry, 252 (highest in the nation); Clay (third in the nation), 207; Whitley (fifth), 189; Russell (seventh), 186; Grayson (ninth), 183; Rockcastle (10th), 182; Knox (11th), 181; Bell (15th), 171; Monroe (18th), 168; Harlan (19th), 168; Powell (22nd), 164; and Metcalfe (23rd), 163. All except Grayson County are in Appalachia.

While Kentucky's infection rate remains high, daily vaccinations in the state have generally increased over the last four weeks, and the state is about to get 50 percent of its population fully vaccinated. The state ranks 27th in vaccination, three notches below Illinois and 14 below Virginia but better than other adjoining states.

Chart by The Washington Post, adapted by Kentucky Health News