COVID-19 cases are falling in Kentucky and Governor Andy Beshear said Monday that if that trajectory continues, the state could move out of the red zone and into the orange or yellow by mid-March.
The red zone is the state’s most severe category for community spread of the virus. On the state’s current incidence rate map, where such zones are assigned to counties, Kenton County is already listed as orange while all other local counties remain in the red zone.
At his regular briefing on Monday, Beshear said that while cases are falling, deaths are still high. There were 84 COVID-related deaths statewide Sunday and Monday, the governor said.
“The topline message is that cases continue to fall,” said Beshear. “We’re still seeing significant numbers of deaths, but cases continue to fall, and the trajectory is exactly what we want to see.”
Beshear also said that if weekly COVID-19 cases and positivity rates continue to decrease, his goal is to provide updated guidance for the state workforce by next month.
Over the past four days, Friday through Monday, there were 541 new COVID-19 cases across five Northern Kentucky counties: 176 in Kenton, 145 in Boone, 124 in Campbell, 82 in Grant, and 14 in Pendleton.
Statewide, the positivity rate is at 17.93%.
There are currently 1,750 people in the hospital statewide due to COVID, including 322 in intensive care units and 162 on ventilators.
During the week ending Sunday, 35,961 cases were reported in Kentucky and the average test positivity rate was 18.37%. Beshear said that 318 National Guard members are deployed helping Kentucky hospitals.
While cases continue to decrease, the governor said this past week was still the sixth highest week for new cases during the pandemic.
Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Department for Public Health, urged expecting mothers to get vaccinated and said there is no evidence of adverse maternal or fetal effects.
“A growing body of data demonstrates the safety of vaccine use in pregnant individuals and that there are risks from contracting COVID during pregnancy, including that COVID increases risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death, and increases the risk of preterm delivery and a small increased risk of stillbirth,” Dr. Stack said. “COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of these complications and is safe for both the mother and the unborn child.”