Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday reported 456 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Kentucky were confirmed over the previous 24 hours.
The new cases increase the commonwealth’s COVID-19 victim count to 66,939.
Officials said 83 of the new cases are children 18 and younger, with 20 of those cases children five-years-old and younger.
“Last week we had almost 5,000 cases in Kentucky – the most we have ever had,” Beshear said. “Now what we believe that we are seeing, I believe we’re seeing it nationally, is the start of a new escalation. As we come toward a fall season and winter, where more people are going to be inside and we know the virus spreads faster, we’ve got to do better than this. We can’t be casual right now.”
Beshear reported five new deaths Monday, raising the state’s death toll to 1,162 (1.7 percent fatality rate).
The deaths reported Monday include a 56-year-old woman from Fayette County; a 91-year-old woman and two men, ages 93 and 97, from Jefferson County; and an 84-year-old woman from Johnson County.
The state’s rolling seven-day positivity rate dropped one-tenth of a point to 4.41 percent, the fifth straight day the rate has dropped.
Since the onset of the pandemic, 5,208 (7.8 percent) patients have been hospitalized, with 507 people currently in a hospital. To date, 1,514 (2.3 percent) victims have been treated in an ICU, with 106 patients currently in intensive care.
At least 11,787 (17.6 percent) Kentuckians have recovered from the virus, and 1,373,577 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the state.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
