Deaths: We regret we must report 1 new death today. We have experienced a total of 385 deaths resulting in a 1.78% mortality rate (about 1 in 56) among known cases. This compares with a 1.45% mortality rate at the state level and a 1.8% 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 19 cases in the hospital. This is 12 less than what we reported yesterday. We have had a total of 1,201 hospitalizations resulting in a 5.55% hospitalization rate (about 1 in 18) among known cases. The state hospitalization rate is 4.9%. The latest data shows that 80% of Lake Cumberland’s ICU beds are filled, and 21.31% of ventilator capacity is being utilized.
Total (Cumulative) Cases: The Lake Cumberland District has experienced a total of 21,630 cases since the onset of the outbreak. This means that 10.35% 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. Of our total cases, 0.43% are reinfections.
Released (Not contagious) Cases: We released 25 cases today from isolation. Released cases include: Adair: 4; Casey: 4; Cumberland: 1; McCreary: 4; Pulaski: 6; Russell: 3; Taylor: 1; and, Wayne: 2. In all, we have released 97.5% of our total cases.
Active (Current) Cases: Taking into account deaths and releases, our active cases decreased by 5 more than the new cases we added today. This leaves us with 154 active cases in our district across 9 of our district’s 10 counties. On 12/10/2020 we were at our peak number of active cases, 1,342.
Where Did Cases Visit Prior to Isolation: The most common places cases visited prior to isolation are (in descending order): Family, Businesses, Medical Facilities, and Schools. Of our active cases, 3% can not be tied back to another known case (community-spread cases).
New Cases: We report that our total case count has increased by 21 today: Adair: 3; Casey: 3; McCreary: 3; Pulaski: 6; Russell: 2; Taylor: 3; and, Wayne: 1. Our current new case growth rate is: 1.001. This means our total case count is projected to double every 678.89 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 21-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Adair: A 13-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Adair: A 34-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Casey: A 26-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Casey: A 54-year-old male who is self-isolated, Asymptomatic;
Casey: A 18-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
McCreary: A 70-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
McCreary: A 41-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
McCreary: A 14-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 18-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 48-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 42-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 14-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 27-year-old male who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Pulaski: A 27-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Russell: A 36-year-old male who is released, Resolved;
Russell: A 63-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Taylor: A 19-year-old male who is self-isolated, Asymptomatic;
Taylor: A 20-year-old male who is self-isolated, Asymptomatic;
Taylor: A 20-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
Wayne: A 36-year-old female who is self-isolated, still symptomatic;
The death we report today is a 71-year-old female from Wayne who had been hospitalized.
We added fewer cases today than for the same time period last week. Therefore, our 7-day average incidence rate went down. Our 7-day average incidence chart is now showing 1 county in the “green-on-track” range, Clinton; 4 counties in the “yellow-community-spread” category, Cumberland, Green, Russell, and Wayne; and 5 counties in the “orange-accelerated” range of community-spread: Adair, Casey, McCreary, Pulaski, and Taylor. We are thankful to not have any “red-critical” counties now. Keep in mind, some of our 7-day-incidence data will be skewed over the next few days as we are reconciling our data against the state data.
Don’t forget that at both the world level and in several states, we are seeing sharp increases in new COVID-19 cases. Therefore, please do not 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 it, 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 21,630 cumulative confirmed cases and there have been 435,923 confirmed COVID-19 cases across all 120 Kentucky Counties as of today (this includes 435,743 statewide plus 180 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.
