Services Monday for Dr. Russell Travis, health-care leader, 87

Russell Travis, M.D.

Funeral services will be held Monday in Lexington for Dr. Russell Travis, a retired surgeon who was a longtime leader in Kentucky's health-care community. He died Oct. 29 at the age of 87.

Travis served as chair of the state Board of Medical Licensure and the state Workers' Compensation Board and held various positions with the American Academy of Occupational Medicine. He was president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and a longtime member of the Joint Washington Committee of Neurosurgery, which helped set national policy for neurological medicine. 

He was a visiting professor at medical schools in Kentucky, South Carolina, Michigan, Mississippi and Virginia. His many awards included the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Academy of Independent Medical Evaluators and the Service to Mankind Award from the Kentucky Medical Association.

Travis grew up in Glasgow but was born in Jenkins, on the Virginia border, and he "would often speak fondly of his years in the mountains," his obituary said. "He gave back to the Appalachian community for over 30 years, by providing on-site neurosurgical care to those residents who lacked access."

He is survived by his wife, Jill Travis, four children, a brother and six grandchildren. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Nov. 7, with funeral services following immediately, at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home on Harrodsburg Road. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Kentucky Easter Seals or the Lexington Humane Society.

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Herald-Leader reports on why Ky.'s main doctors' lobby has taken no real stance on abortion despite many doctors' worries: politics

Despite unwavering opposition to Kentucky's near-total abortion ban from the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and dozens of others, the Kentucky Medical Association's governing body chose to not adopt multiple evidence-based statements that abortion is an essential part of health care for Kentucky women. 

"The reason, according to half a dozen physician KMA members interviewed for this story, was largely political, and an attempt to strike a balance between competing opinions," Alex Acquisto reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader in a 2,564-word story. 

She writes, "In a state like Kentucky, where broad support of those laws is often buttressed by Christian doctrine rather than peer-reviewed research, many doctors are pinned between their ethical obligation to publicly advocate for patients and a need to compromise and avoid alienating the political party in power that passes those laws." Republicans have supermajorities in both legislative chambers. 

Acquisto adds, "Kentucky’s criminal penalty for violating the trigger law adds another layer of reluctance to speak up, doctors said." 

They are reluctant at a time when "Kentuckians are looking to physicians to cut through the political jargon, religious ideology and misinformation swirling around abortion access, and weigh in as health care professionals, especially with Constitutional Amendment No. 2 on the ballot in November," she writes. The proposal would prevent courts from finding in the state constitution a right to abortion or funding of it. 

The KMA "largely sidestepped" taking a stance on the issue at its annual meeting in August, she reports. "While doctors said restoring access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care is still their end goal, KMA sacrificed its pointed vocal opposition to laws not rooted in health care in order to preserve its working relationship with the Kentucky General Assembly." Doctors have long held sway in the legislature, especially in the Senate, and have been leading financiers of legislators' campaigns. 

Acquisto reports on five policy resolutions related to abortion that were considered by KMA's House of Delegates at its meeting in late August. 

A KMA spokesperson told Acquisto that the annual meeting debate proceedings are private and so are the lists of delegates and other attendees. 

"Three of the five were overtly critical of the Kentucky state legislature for banning abortion in all cases except medical emergencies by way of a trigger law." The delegates chose not to adopt any of the three "biting policy statements," but instead adopted one that does not mention abortion or “reproductive health care,” but urges passage of health-care policy that is “evidence-based.” 

It also adopted one titled "Improving Maternal Health" that more generally says KMA will "advocate for improved reproductive health care and resources" for Kentucky women, Acquisto reports. 

She reports that the Herald-Leader reached out to 19 KMA members for the story and six agreed to be interviewed. All said they either helped write the three rejected resolutions, participated in debate on them at the meeting, or cast votes. 

They told Acquisto that, despite the consensus among obstetrician-gynecologists on the importance of access to abortion, there is division in KMA over public advocacy of reproductive rights, often stemming from religious convictions and political beliefs among doctors outside that specialty.

"But a prevailing reason KMA didn’t take a stronger public stance," she reports, "was fear that lawmakers, seeing it as a slight, would refuse future input from the association on abortion policy."

Sen. Ralph Alvarado, M.D.

Acquisto reports that during debate at the meeting, Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, a KMA member, "was matter-of-fact in his warning: the legislature would be much less inclined to work with the KMA if it publicly bucked GOP lawmakers and their abortion laws, according to three people in the room who said it sounded threatening."

Alvarado, a family physician who ran for lieutenant governor in 2019 with then-Gov. Matt Bevin and has celebrated the fall of Roe v. Wade, gave Acquisto a statement saying he felt “uniquely positioned, qualified and obligated to offer my consultation” at the meeting and spoke “plainly about how an effective, collaborative working relationship between KMA and the General Assembly could and should occur,” adding that the association “cannot and should not be defined by a single policy issue.”

After the debate, the resolutions “took a more neutral position,” one that “better reflects current KMA members’ views,” Alvarado said. 

In other Southern states, such as Tennessee and South Carolina, doctors have been more assertive in asking their legislatures to reconsider their abortion bans, Acquisto reports: "In mid-June, at its annual meeting in Chicago, the American Medical Association publicly declared abortion a 'human right,' with 100% support' from Kentucky’s official delegation, said Dr. Coy Flowers, a Lexington OB-GYN who oversaw that local support."

But Flowers told Acquisto that it's not as easy [to take such a stance] back home in Kentucky, though, where it’s a “game of chess, not checkers in terms of politics and public advocacy." 

Flowers is one of 14 OB-GYNs nationwide to serve as an American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology delegate to the AMA.

Acquisto also writes about challenges faced by doctors because they are unsure how to interpret Kentucky's abortion ban. It forbids abortion except to prevent the woman's death, a “substantial risk of death due to a physical condition,” or “serious, permanent impairment” of a “life-sustaining organ.”

The law does not define those terms, nor does legal guidance exist on the range of conditions for which an abortion is medically necessary even if a the woman's life is not imminently threatened. Attorney General Daniel Cameron issued a second advisory opinion Oct. 26 to clarify the scope of the ban, but it "didn't provide clarification on a litany of other medical conditions and treatments impacted by those laws," Acquisto reports. Doctors told her that this is yet another reason that the KMA should more strongly assert itself.

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Anthem Medicaid Rural Medicine Scholarship now offered at Murray State University, available to health-care students

Murray State Univ. anniversary logo

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicaid in Kentucky has endowed a scholarship to support up to four students a year at Murray State University who are majoring in a health-care field. 

The $100,000 Anthem Medicaid Rural Medicine Scholarship is meant to expand the number of frontline workers in Western Kentucky and increase access to care and improve health equity in the state's rural areas. 

“What an exciting opportunity for our health-care students,” Murray State President Bob Jackson said in a news release. “We are thrilled to partner with Anthem Medicaid to create this much-needed endowed scholarship. This gift helps us achieve our mission of preparing the next generation of leaders who will make a difference in their communities through health care.”

Scholarship applicants must be full-time students at Murray, majoring in a health care-related field, including nursing, pre-medicine or pre-dentistry. The recipients must plan to work in Western Kentucky for at least three years after graduating. The scholarship will be open to students beginning in fall 2023.

The scholarships were announced soon after the Kentucky Hospital Association released its 2022 Workforce Survey Report, that found Kentucky hospitals reported more than 13,000 vacancies across 13 professional groups in 2021. Among those vacancies, nearly 22% of them were among registered nurses. The report looks at non-physician hospital labor force in Kentucky.

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Most Ky. counties have a low risk of Covid-19 transmission, but hotspots remain and other respiratory viruses are on the rise

CDC map, adapted by Kentucky Health News

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Covid-19 appears to leveling off in Kentucky, just as other respiratory viruses ramp up. 

At his weekly press conference, Gov. Andy Beshear noted that Covid continues to be at some of the lower levels that we've seen during the pandemic.

That's according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention risk map, and the one that corrected the processing problems on last week's initial map that made things look worse than they were.  

However, Beshear cautioned that Kentuckians are getting sick with other respiratory viruses. 

"From a health perspective, we're dealing with a lot more more than Covid," he said. "Right now flu, RSV and other illnesses are really hitting our population, especially our children. The report I got earlier this week is that almost every pediatric bed at our three hospitals that have pediatric beds, nearly all of them were full, and pediatric ICU beds were completely full." 

RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, is a common virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. And while most people recover in a week or two, it can be serious for infants and older adults. 

Beshear encouraged Kentuckians to get their annual flu vaccination and the updated Covid-19 booster, and to stay home if they are sick, noting that some schools have closed because of flu or other illnesses. 

The latest CDC risk map, which looks at both cases and hospital data to determine risk, shows  Harrison, Robertson and Letcher counties are the only three Kentucky counties considered to be at high risk of Covid-19 transmission.

The map shows 20 Kentucky counties at medium risk, shown in yellow, and 97 counties at low risk, shown in green. High risk counties are shown in orange. 

In high-risk counties, the CDC continues to recommend that you wear a well-fitting mask in public indoor spaces, and if you are at high risk of getting very sick, consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed.

If you live in a medium or high-risk county, the CDC advises those who are at high risk of getting very sick to wear a well-fitting mask when indoors and in public and to consider getting tested before having social contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick and consider wearing a mask when indoors when you are with them.

The CDC also has a transmission-level map that shows the level of virus spread in each county, at one of four levels. The map shows 19 Kentucky counties at moderate levels of transmission. The rest have either substantial or high levels of transmission. This data is largely used by researchers and health-care facilities. 

State health officials have encouraged Kentuckians to use the other CDC map to guide their preventive measures. 

The New York Times ranks Kentucky's infection rate fifth among the states, with a 13% increase in cases in the last two weeks. Here's the Times map:

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State's opioid-settlement money should be used for housing and transportation, other needs, speakers at commission town hall say

The commission held a town-hall meeting Oct. 26 in Lexington. (KHN photo by Melissa Patrick)

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

More than 100 people attended the fifth town hall of the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission to suggest how to spend the state's $478 million settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors. 

Bryan Hubbard, executive director and chairman of the commission, told Kentucky Health News after the Oct. 26 meeting in Lexington that the recommendations were similar to earlier town halls and probably won't change in the remaining three, to be held in Louisville, Bowling Green and Paducah. 

Bryan Hubbard
(Daily Independent photo)

"We seem to have good coverage when it comes to acute treatment within Kentucky; we've come a long way when it comes to making that available," Hibbard said. "There's a lot of work to be done when it comes to those things that people need to maintain recovery and to take ownership for their lives. Housing, transportation, second-chance employment opportunities, and the resolution of legal problems that continue to hunt down people down years after by have occurred, all of those things have emerged every place we've gone to."

Half of the settlement funds will go to the state and the other half will go to Kentucky's counties and cities. The county and city funds are to be used to support organizations that develop and implement programs to combat the opioid epidemic in Kentucky. The process to apply for a grant to fund such endeavors can be found at ag.ky.gov/OAAC.  Hubbard said the commission had already received 102 grant applications through Oct. 25.

Asked how the commission will determine who gets the grants, he said, "We are going to sort applications into those areas that pertained to prevention, treatment and recovery. We will then match what are essentially the proposals to the needs. And we will figure out which organizations seem best ready and equipped to meet those needs and have deliberations and hand out money in accordance with those priorities." 

The commission, created by the legislature, has11 members, two of which are non-voting. The money will be paid out over 18 years with hopes of getting the first installment in December, Hubbard said.  

"We're going to be good partners to the cities and counties to make sure that we can be a resource of the allocation of  the money to the areas where they are most needed . . . while also ensuring that we have quarterly financial reports, which verify and authenticate those expenditures for the intended purpose," he told the Lexington audience. 

The remaining town halls will be held in Bowling Green Nov. 9 and Paducah Nov. 29. The latest was held in Louisville Nov. 1. 

The Lexington town hall lasted nearly three hours. About 30 people stood to tell their stories of addiction, recovery and loss before making their recommendations for how the settlement money should be spent. Here are some of their suggestions:  

Need for safe and sober housing, call for better oversight

Several people talked about the need for safe and sober housing that is truly safe and sober. 

"Sober living isn't always safe, and it's not always so common, and it's is expensive," said Matthew Otto, owner and co-founder of Roaring Brook Recovery in Lexington, who spent 20 years in and out of jail and treatment. 

Dave Thomas, who is in recovery from drug and alcohol use, said he had worked in recovery for over 12 years and one of his greatest challenges is finding safe and sober housing for people in recovery. Thomas said he is clinical director at Roaring Brook and the president and co-founder of Recovery Café Lexington. 

"There's a lot of them around, but there is not many of them that are dependable, that we know are safe and sober," Thomas said. "I have had to tell people that I can't find you a bed, only to get a phone call that they died." 

Commission member Van Ingram, executive director of the state Office of Drug Control Policy, asked Thomas what else needs to be done, noting that the state already requires recovery residences to be certified with the National Association of Recovery Residences. 

To a big round of applause, Thomas said, "I think beyond the NARR certification would be to actually have some state regulations as to what qualifies as sober living." 

Larry and Nancy Blackford of Versailles told the story of their son's overdose death in 2017. They too spoke to the need for safe and sober housing that is affordable, noting that there were times when their son was in housing where he "wasn't comfortable."  

They also called for increased regulations for sober housing and treatment centers to ensure they are doing what they say they are doing and to ensure that they have medical staff on duty.  

Need for more long-term recovery care

Several of the speakers talked about the need for more long-term recovery options, saying a 30-day treatment program is simply not long enough.

Charlotte Wethington told the story of her son Casey, who died 20 years ago from a heroin overdose at a time when there were few long-term recovery centers available and no laws that would allow them to keep a patient if they decided to leave. Further, she said that even when he was arrested, they couldn't keep him if they wanted to leave. 

After his death, Wethington was instrumental in getting "Casey's Law" passed that allows families and others to file a petition to request involuntary, court-ordered drug treatment for their loved ones. The law has had varying success across the state. 

Wethington's request was for more long-term residential treatment. "I think we need to keep holding on to people, keep them in a safe place until their brain begins that healing process," she said. "And we know that it's going to take a while. It's not going to be something that happens overnight. They need time."

Need for transportation, pet care

John, who identified as a nurse practitioner who works in addiction care but did not give his last name, came with a list of needs: reducing stigma, more mental health practitioners, eliminating some restrictions on prescribing the treatment drug suboxone, and more transportation and housing, which he said are the "two biggest barriers we run into in this population." 

He also spoke to the need to provide pet care for people who are seeking long-term, in-patient treatment, calling this "a major problem that patients perceive as barriers" to treatment. 

"Nine times out of 10, when I'm talking to a patient about inpatient treatment or getting higher levels of care, they are desperately worried about what's going to happen with their pets," he said. "It is a major problem." 

One man called for mobile methadone clinics to bring drug treatment and medical care to people who are houseless, noting that many people with drug addictions do not have access to transportation. 

An infectious-disease doctor said lack of transportation is a huge barrier for his patients with substance use disorders who often don't come back for follow-up care because of a lack of transportation. He also called for health care facilities that creates a culture that feels safe for people who use drugs. Further, he said there is a need for more adolescent treatment centers in Kentucky. 

Other requests

Charles and Yvonne Byers and daughter Beth, who held her brother's picture, told the story of son David, who died from a fentanyl overdose in August. He was 27. Their call was for efforts to stop the influx of the powerful opioid.

"We can't bring David back, but perhaps we can bring our voice to this charge," he said. "We must work together to solve this brutal attack on the children,  on our friends, our loved ones, on our very way of life." He closed by saying, "This is our son David and fentanyl killed him, because that's what fentanyl does."

One person asked for additional supports for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren because of the opioid epidemic. Several others pointed out that existing programs need financial support. Another asked for mental-health care for families dealing with addiction, and another asked that the commission only give money to programs that could prove their success with data. 

In his closing remarks, Dr. Allen Brenzel, medical director for the state Department for Behavioral Health, Development and Intellectual Disabilities, summed up the recommendations as a call for recovery supports. 

"We can do a lot with treatment, "he said. "But if we don't support people in early recovery, we're creating a revolving door."

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Health officials in counties with high and low Covid-19 death rates point to vaccination rates, residents' underlying health status

Kentucky Health News map via Datawrapper, highlighting high-death-rate counties of Metcalfe, Monroe, Harlan, Perry, Lee and Robertson, and low-death-rate counties of Jefferson, Fayette, Scott and Woodford. For an earlier story with an interactive map with all counties' rates and data, click here.

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Health officials from Kentucky counties with some of the state's highest and lowest Covid-19 death rates both cited vaccination rates as a contributor, but the health official in the county with one of the highest death rates said the relatively low health status of the population must also be considered. 

A breakdown of Covid-19 deaths per 1,000 people in each county found that the highest county death rate is five times the lowest one. To explore that discrepancy, Kentucky Health News talked with a health official in a county with one of the highest rates, and one in a county with one of the lowest rates. 

In Woodford County, which had the fourth lowest rate, 2.09 Covid-related deaths per 1,000 residents, Public Health Director Cassie Prather said she attributed the low rate to its high Covid-19 vaccination rates, especially among residents 65 and older, who are among the most vulnerable.

"I would love to see a map overlay of the death rates and the vaccine rates," she said. Later adding, "I think the correlation is there." 

Woodford County has had one of the highest vaccination rates in the state throughout the pandemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker, 78.3% of Woodford County's population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Among residents 65 and older, 93.3% are fully vaccinated; 73.3% of those who are fully vaccinated have received one booster shot; and 54.6% of  those who have had the first booster have also received the second. 

Cassie Prather

Prather said getting people in Woodford County vaccinated has been a community effort that includes weekly clinics that are still running, community members volunteering to drive people to the clinics, a partnership with the emergency medical service to do home visits, and a mobile clinic that goes out twice a week to farms and people they normally wouldn't see at the health department. 

She added that city and county governments have worked diligently to keep their citizens informed, and that she and Judge-Executive James Kay still do weekly Covid-19 updates on the county government's Facebook page. "We knew how important communication would be . . . because we wanted people to be aware and to be able to make the best decisions for their family and friends," she said. 

Kay, who as judge-executive chairs the county health board, said his pandemic role has been to unite the community in an effort to fight the virus, while allowing the health department to lead the response. 

"We did a full county and community response," Kay said. "And we brought the cities and the county and the schools together to all be on the same page every day for nearly two years."

Expanding on the importance of giving the public direct, real-time information to combat misinformation, he said, "We created a level of trust. When we told them information; they knew it was true."  

Adjoining Scott County's Covid-19 death rate was just .007 per 1,000 higher than Woodford's. Crystal Miller, public health director of the regional health department that serves the county, told Mike Scogin of the Georgetown News-Graphic that the community's response to the pandemic was critical to keeping Covid-19 under control. 

“It was all hands on deck,” Miller told Scogin. “All our community partners bought in and everyone contributed. From elected leaders to businesses and industries, the hospital, schools and the newspaper, everyone wanted to do the right thing. A big portion was community support. The calls we received at the health department were, ‘How can we keep people safe?’”

Miller also said Scott County has one of the state's highest vaccination, which saved lives. The CDC says 65.2% of the county's population has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. 

“We did not get a lot of pushback," Miller said. "I know that was not the case in other communities, where people refused to even wear masks."

Metcalfe County, in south-central Kentucky, had the sixth highest Covid-19 death rate, 7.348 per 1,000 residents. It is served by the Barren River District Health Department, where Public Health Director Matt Jones said he thinks the rate stems from multiple factors.

Jones cited the county's poor health outcomes, gauged by life expectancy and measures of quality of life; and health factors, such as access to physicians, tobacco use, children living in poverty, and other environmental factors that contribute to or detract from the local population's health. 

"Those health outcomes, those health factors, they were already at play," he said. "And I think that is one of the leading reasons why we had higher mortality rates in Metcalfe County and the other six counties that you listed."

Counties with death rates higher than Metcalfe were Lee, 7.565; Perry, 7.803; Monroe, 8.075; Harlan, 8.574; and Robertson, the state's smallest county, 10.436 deaths per 1,000 residents.

Comparing just Metcalfe and Woodford counties' 2022 County Health Rankings, Metcalfe ranked 71st for health outcomes and 89th for health factors and Woodford County ranked eighth for health outcomes and third for health factors. 

Eight of the top 10 counties with the lowest Covid-19 death rates in Kentucky ranked in the top 11 counties for health outcomes, and included the top six counties for health factors.

"ZIP code matters," Jones said. 

Among the seven counties with the highest Covid-19 death rates, all ranked 69th or lower for health outcomes, and four ranked in the bottom 11. All seven ranked 64th or lower in health factors, with three in the bottom six. 

Jones also pointed to the discrepancies in health-care access between rural and urban counties as a possible reason for Metcalfe County's higher Covid-19 death rate.

He noted that Warren County, which has a population of nearly 133,000, and Metcalfe, with around 10,000, have very similar vaccination rates, 45.7% and 45.3%, respectively, with at least one dose, but Warren's death rate was less than half Metcalfe's, 3.02 deaths per 1,000 residents. 

Warren, with its fast-growing county seat of Bowling Green, has many more health resources than Metcalfe County, including two hospitals, while Metcalfe County has no hospital and a shortage medical providers, Jones noted.  

Asked about the county's lower vaccination rates, he said, "I think vaccinations did play a role, especially as it relates to moderate and severe cases. But I do think those health outcomes and the other indices played a major role in the overall outcomes of Covid." 

Among Metcalfe County seniors, 62.7% are fully vaccinated; 67.8% of those have received one booster shot; and 36% of that group have taken the second shot, according to the CDC.  

Jones said the eight counties in his health district have taken a multifaceted approach to the pandemic that has evolved as their needs have evolved. Beyond providing testing and Covid-19 vaccination clinics, the local departments participated in work groups with community leaders to keep them informed and used social media, local newspapers and radio stations to keep the public informed.

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The risk of Covid-19 infection in Kentucky is increasing, with a big jump in counties moving from low to medium risk last week

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The risk of Covid-19 transmission increased across the state last week, with the latest federal risk map showing 63 Kentucky counties at either high or medium risk, up from 30 on the prior week's map. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map, which looks at both cases and hospital data to determine risk, shows seven Kentucky counties at high risk, shown in orange; 56 at medium risk, shown in yellow; and 57 counties at low risk, shown in green.

Most of the shifts from the prior week's map were among counties that moved from low risk to medium risk, with 37 fewer green counties on the latest map and 30 more yellow ones. The number of red counties increased by three on the latest map.  

Counties at high risk are Mercer, Greenup, Carter, Boyd,  Letcher and Pike. Letcher is the only red county on the latest map that was also red on the last two reports. 

In high-risk counties, the CDC continues to recommend that you wear a well-fitting mask in public indoor spaces, and if you are at high risk of getting very sick, consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed.

If you live in a medium or high-risk county, the CDC advises those who are at high risk of getting very sick to wear a well-fitting mask when indoors and in public and to consider getting tested before having social contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick and consider wearing a mask when indoors when you are with them.

The CDC also has a transmission-level map that shows the level of virus spread in each county, at one of four levels. Carlisle and Hickman counties have a moderate level of transmission. The map shows McCracken, Lyon, Christian, Owen, Pendleton, Nicholas and Elliott have substantial levels of transmission and the rest of the counties have a high level of transmission. This data is largely used by researchers and health-care facilities. 

State health officials have encouraged Kentuckians to use the other CDC map to guide their preventive measures. 

The New York Times ranks Kentucky's infection rate 17th among states, with a 52% drop in cases in the last two weeks. 

At his weekly news conference Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear said it will be important to watch Covid-19 over the next few weeks, noting that while the most recent surveillance continues to be encouraging, cases went up last week, and the prior week's risk map had a few more red counties than the week before. The good news, he said, is that hospital numbers remain low. 

"I think we've got to wait 'til future weeks to determine what that means, if anything," he said. 

Beshear also encouraged Kentuckians to get vaccinated and boosted if they want these numbers to stay low, cautioning that cold weather and the holidays are coming, a time when people will gather indoors where it is easier for the virus to spread. 

"First, if you haven't gotten vaccinated, I know you've waited a long time. Just please consider doing it. . . . Here's the other thing. We need a lot more people to get the new booster, the Omicron booster. It protects you not only from the current strains that are out there, but the strains that we're hearing about in Europe and elsewhere. This booster appears to be effective for it," he said. " Right now, if you are vaccinated and boosted your chances of ending up hospitalized or worse, losing your life, are negligible."

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