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Kentucky reached grim new milestones in three key areas in the fight against COVID-19: the highest number of people hospitalized, the number of people in intensive care units (ICU), and the number of people on ventilators.

The news on Monday follows a defeat for Gov. Andy Beshear at the Kentucky Supreme Court which determined that the governor lacks authority to enforce many of his executive orders designed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. 

Instead, that power, the court ruled, lies with the General Assembly.

Positive cases continue to increase across the state and now nearly every county is in the “red zone” on the state’s incidence rate map, which measures the severity of the virus’s spread.

All Northern Kentucky counties are in the red zone, indicating the highest spread of COVID-19.

Over the past four days, Friday through Monday, five Northern Kentucky counties have recorded 643 total new positive cases.

Kenton Co. recorded 258 of those, including 95 on Monday. There were 190 in Boone Co., including 49 on Monday. Campbell Co. saw 126 total cases in that span, including 126 on Monday. In Grant Co., there were 37 total cases, including 9 on Monday. Pendleton Co. recorded a total of 32, including 12 on Monday.

Statewide, Kentucky saw 2,596 new cases on Monday. The state has a positivity rate of 12.87%.

There are 1,893 people hospitalized statewide, including 529 in ICU, and 301 on ventilators.

Free and widely available COVID-19 vaccines have been received by 2,467,420 people in the state.

One of the three available vaccines, one produced by Pfizer/BioNTech, received full approval on Monday from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Previously that one and two others were being distributed in the U.S. under a emergency authorization from the FDA. Pfizer’s is the first to receive full approval.

Despite the wide availability of the vaccines, fewer than half of Kentucky’s counties currently have more than 50% of their populations vaccinated. In Northern Kentucky, Boone (65%), Kenton (59%), and Campbell (61%) meet that threshold. Grant (45%) and Pendleton (39%) lag.

State Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger) tweeted on Monday that monetary incentives should be offered to boost vaccination rates.

“I’ve said it several times on here and will say it again. Take the Biden Bucks and pay people to get vaccinated. $50, $100, whatever gets the job done. Incentives work,” Koenig tweeted, in response to a tweet from Courier-Journal reporter Joe Sonka.

Gov. Beshear announced new red zone county recommendations on Monday with 119 of the state’s 120 counties meeting that designation. Only Robertson Co. is not in the red zone, meaning a county has a weekly average of 25 or more new COVID-19 cases per day, per 100,000 people.

The Governor’s new red zone recommendations include:

  • Increase vaccination efforts to reach unvaccinated persons;
  • Require masking in government buildings;
  • Encourage masking in public indoor settings for all persons > 2 years of age;
  • Encourage masking in crowded outdoor settings for all persons > 2 years of age;
  • Encourage physical distancing of at least six feet apart in public settings;
  • Maximize usage of outdoor spaces for gatherings;
  • Consider limiting in-person community gatherings and postponing large events;
  • Encourage medically vulnerable persons to avoid large crowds; and
  • Engage community partners and stakeholders to implement a strong communication plan.

As for the governor’s defeat at the Supreme Court, Beshear told reporters on Monday that he may call a special session so that lawmakers can address the state of emergency and other possible mitigation efforts.Â