Statewide Testing Positivity Rate: 3.73%.
Deaths: We are sad to report 1 new death today. We have experienced a total of 377 deaths resulting in a 1.8% mortality rate (about 1 in 56) among known cases. This compares with a 1.21% mortality rate at the state level and a 1.82% mortality rate at the national level. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families and friends who have lost loved ones.
Hospitalizations: We presently have 26 cases in the hospital. This is 1 less than what we reported yesterday. We have had a total of 1,155 hospitalizations resulting in a 5.53% hospitalization rate (about 1 in 18) among known cases. The state hospitalization rate is 4.78%. The latest data shows that 86.67% of Lake Cumberland’s ICU beds are filled, and 20.97% of ventilator capacity is being utilized.
Total (Cumulative) Cases: The Lake Cumberland District has experienced a total of 20,890 cases since the onset of the outbreak. This means that 10% of our total population has been a confirmed case. However, we do not know how many additional people may have had COVID-19 and were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and never tested.
Released (Not contagious) Cases: We released 27 cases today from isolation. Released cases include: Adair: 5; Casey: 3; Cumberland: 1; Green: 1; McCreary: 1; Pulaski: 13; Taylor: 1; and, Wayne: 2. In all, we have released 97.3% of our total cases.
Active (Current) Cases: Taking into account deaths and releases, we decreased the same number of cases today as we added new cases. This leaves us with 197 active cases in our district across all 10 of our district’s 10 counties. On 12/10/2020 we were at our peak number of active cases, 1,343.
Where Did Cases Visit Prior to Isolation: The most common places cases visited prior to isolation are (in descending order): Businesses, Schools, Family, and Medical Facilities. Of our active cases, 5% can not be tied back to another known case (community-spread cases).
New Cases: We report that our total case count has increased by 28 today: Adair: 1; Clinton: 1; Cumberland: 3; Pulaski: 14; Russell: 2; Taylor: 6; and, Wayne: 1. Our current new case growth rate is: 1.001. This means our total case count is projected to double every 597.16 days. The most new cases we ever added in a single day was on 12/30/2020 when we added 301 cases. Today’s new cases include:
Adair: A 87-year-old female who is released, Resolved;
Clinton: A 22-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Cumberland: A 69-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Cumberland: A 75-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Cumberland: A 19-year-old male who is self-isolated, Asymptomatic;
Pulaski: A 19-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 61-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 16-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 16-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 17-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 47-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 51-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 53-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 60-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 30-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 24-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 16-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 14-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 16-year-old male who is self-isolated, Asymptomatic;
Russell: A 35-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Russell: A 8-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Taylor: A 78-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Taylor: A 78-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Taylor: A 73-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Taylor: A 78-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Taylor: A 82-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Taylor: A 76-year-old female who is self-isolated, Asymptomatic;
Wayne: A 71-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
The death we announce today is a 52-year-old male from Pulaski who had been hospitalized.
Over the weekend, we picked up a mobile clinic van that had been on back-order for several weeks. We will be utilizing it to enhance our vaccination efforts. We had our first pilot run today and it went very well.
Cases have slowed enough that we have asked for the state’s master data set to compare against ours. Over the next few days, we will “scrub” the data and work with the state to make sure that what we have recorded matches what they have recorded. During the surge, neither we nor the state had the time to adequately reconcile the data as we went.
Our total number of new cases went down today compared to last Wednesday, so our 7-day average incidence rate went down as well. We now have 5 counties in the “yellow-community-spread” category, Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, and Russell; and 5 counties in the “orange-accelerated” range of community-spread: Green, McCreary, Pulaski, Taylor, and Wayne. None of our counties are presently in the “red-critical” range.
While cases are still dropping for the moment in the United States, it should be noted that on the global level, cases have started to rise again. Countries like Brazil, India, France, Italy, and Germany are seeing sharp increases. Therefore, please don’t assume that the pandemic is completely behind us and take the vaccine as soon as you can. Also, until the vaccine is widely available, and a significant percentage of the population has taken in, let’s all do our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19 by wearing our face coverings, avoiding crowds (especially in confined spaces), social distancing when around others, increasing our hand hygiene, increasing our general sanitation, and by avoiding the touching of our faces.
The Lake Cumberland area has experienced 20,890 cumulative confirmed cases and there have been 418,702 confirmed COVID-19 cases across all 120 Kentucky Counties as of today (this includes 418,372 statewide plus 330 reported cases in Lake Cumberland not in the Governor’s/Department for Public Health’s daily report). Regardless of the confirmed case count for any Lake Cumberland County, we believe COVID-19 to be widespread. The LCDHD is working tirelessly, including nights and weekends, to identify and contact all those with whom any positive case may have come into close contact, and to follow-up with positive cases when ready to be released. Additionally, we are striving diligently to follow-up on business-related complaints regarding noncompliance with the COVID-19 guidance. We are also working with any community partner that requests assistance for prevention or post-exposure planning/response. Finally, we are working with all community partners regarding vaccination planning and working diligently to provide vaccinations ourselves.
