Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday reported 726 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were diagnosed in Kentucky between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.
Those cases increase the state’s COVID-19 victim count to 41,626.
Officials said 20 of the new cases are children five-years-old and younger. Over the last 38 days, Kentucky has had 617 children in that age group diagnosed with the virus, an average of 16.2 per day.
The state’s positivity rate checked in at 5.18 percent on Thursday, a slight drop from Wednesday’s 5.41 percent.
“Today’s report is good news and bad news,” Beshear said. “This virus is still out there and still aggressively spreading. But our positivity rate is now down to 5.18 percent, which is headed in the right direction. Let’s make sure we make the right decisions to keep our cases low. Let’s make sure we wear our masks and stay six feet apart.”
The governor reported 14 new deaths on Thursday — giving Kentucky 38 COVID-19-related deaths over the last three days — and raising the commonwealth’s death toll to 856 (2.1 percent).
The deaths reported Thursday include a 66-year-old man from Barren County; a 95-year-old woman from Clay County; two men, ages 81 and 88, from Fayette County; an 88-year-old woman from Gallatin County; a 55-year-old man from Graves County; an 84-year-old woman from Harlan County; a 77-year-old woman from Hopkins County; an 89-year-old man from Jackson County; a 57-year-old man from Marion County; a 96-year-old woman from Oldham County; a 65-year-old woman from Pulaski County; and a 76-year-old man from Warren County (“one family asked for their loved one’s demographics not to be shared,” officials said).
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 4,349 (10.4 percent) patients have been hospitalized, with 638 people currently in a hospital. To date, 1,337 (3.2 percent) victims have been treated in intensive care, with 155 patients currently in an ICU.
At least 9,388 (22.6 percent) people have recovered from the virus, and 794,282 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the state.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
