As alarming as these recent numbers may be, please realize that the real-time situation is likely even worse than what is reflected here. Our hospitals in the region and across the state are nearing capacity. The health department is struggling to keep up with positive case reports. We have not seen numbers like these since January. Please take precautions, including wearing a mask in indoor gatherings, practicing social distancing when possible and considering vaccination if you have not already done so. On a positive note, all of our counties are continuing to inch up in their vaccination rates, although all remain below the state average.
Statewide Testing Positivity Rate: 12.4%.
Deaths: We are pleased to report no new deaths since our last report. We have experienced a total of 486 deaths resulting in a 1.91% mortality rate (about 1 in 52) among known cases. This compares with a 1.44% mortality rate at the state level and a 1.69% mortality rate at the national level.
Hospitalizations: We presently have 44 cases in the hospital. This is 1 more than what we reported in our last report. We have had a total of 1,385 hospitalizations resulting in a 5.45% hospitalization rate (about 1 in 18) among known cases. The state hospitalization rate is 4.82%. The latest data shows that 91.11% of Lake Cumberland’s ICU beds are filled, and 27.87% of ventilator capacity is being utilized.
Total (Cumulative) Cases: The Lake Cumberland District has experienced a total of 25,430 cases since the onset of the outbreak. This means that 12.17% 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, 0.75% are reinfections, and 4.01% contracted the virus after being fully vaccinated (breakthrough cases). In the last week, 9.73% of our new cases were breakthrough cases.
Released (Not contagious) Cases: We released 375 cases since our last report from isolation. Released cases include: Adair: 35; Casey: 28; Clinton: 7; Cumberland: 8; Green: 24; McCreary: 77; Pulaski: 87; Russell: 28; Taylor: 59; and, Wayne: 22. In all, we have released 95% of our total cases.
Active (Current) Cases: Taking into account deaths and releases, our active cases decreased by 115 more than the new cases we added since our last report. This leaves us with 776 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, 1,338.
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, 40% can not be tied back to another known case (community-spread cases).
New Cases: We report that our total case count has increased by 260 since our last report. Our new cases (including suspect cases) are as follows: Adair: 27; Casey: 39; Clinton: 17; Cumberland: 5; Green: 24; McCreary: 18; Pulaski: 47; Russell: 36; Taylor: 40; and, Wayne: 7. Our current new case growth rate is: 1.00555. This means our total case count is projected to double every 125.21 days. The most new cases we ever added in a single day was on 12/30/2020 when we added 301 cases.
You may notice a difference in our numbers for tonight. One case was removed from Clinton County as not meeting case definition.
Additionally, out of today’s 261 reported cases, 75 of them were in individuals age 18 or younger.
