Ninety-four of Kentucky’s 120 counties are now considered “red zone”, meaning they are averaging 25 or more daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.
Boone, Campbell, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton counties are among them.
The state recorded 2,342 newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, the day of the week in which Governor Andy Beshear officially updates the “red zone” map.
“Remember, what this is supposed to do is provide a way for communities to come together to stop the virus,” Beshear said about the red zone designations. “The biggest employer in Franklin County is the state government, and we will be following the red zone recommendations next week. Anybody who can work virtually is going to work virtually. Any service that can be done virtually will be. We are going to live up to what we’re asking other people to do.”
Beshear urged red zone counties to follow recommendations when reaching that level of spread and infection.
The state recorded 174 new cases in those five Northern Kentucky counties.
Boone Co. currently has the highest average rate of spread, with 51 daily cases per 100,000 people, while Campbell Co. averages 48.8, Grant Co. 46.7, Kenton Co. 43.8, and Pendleton Co. 42.1.
Four of those counties make up the Northern Kentucky Independent Health District (Pendleton is in a separate health district) which reported Thursday that there are currently 3,019 active COVID cases across them.
The state’s positivity rate is now 8.29%.
There are 1,311 people hospitalized across the state including 299 in intensive care units and 163 on ventilators.
Eighteen additional deaths were reported in Kentucky on Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 1,622 since the pandemic began.
-Staff report