Kentucky's coronavirus positive-test rate inches up again; infection rate is about the same; 7-day new-case average falls

Kentucky Dept. for Public Health map, adapted by Kentucky Health News; to enlarge, click on it.

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Kentucky's coronavirus infection rate remains on a rough plateau, still too high to be considered safe, and the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus inched up for the second day in a row. 

However, the seven-day average for cases went down by 34 cases. As Gov. Andy Beshear said at his Monday news conference, it all bears watching.

The state reported 1,258 new virus cases Tuesday, 25% of them in Kentuckians 18 and under. That lowered the seven-day rolling average to 1,216, a decrease of 34 from Monday.

The percentage of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days is 5.05%, a slight increase from 5.03% on Monday and up from 4.98% on Sunday. 

The state's seven-day infection rate is 22.5 daily cases per 100,000 residents, a slight increase from Monday's 22.35. The rate has been hovering around this number for about a week. Counties with rates more than double the state rate are Russell, 105.2; Green, 94; Clinton, 81.1; Adair, 80.3; Jackson, 55.7; Powell, 54.3; Trimble, 52.3; and Lee, 52.1. Forty-seven of the 120 counties are still in the red zone, for those with rates above 25.

Kentucky's infection rate ranks 26th among the states, according to The New York Times.

Hospitals reported 776 Covid-19 patients, four more than Monday; 239 of them in intensive care, down 10; and 133 on mechanical ventilation, down five. 

Six of the state's 10 hospital regions are using at least 80% of their intensive-care beds, with Northern Kentucky tops at 98.72%. 

The state reported 20 more Covid-19 deaths, bringing the pandemic death toll to 9,834. One of the deaths was only 41 years old, according to a Beshear Facebook post.