State’s COVID positivity rate continues on the ‘good trajectory’

State's numbers continue to slow decline

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – The state’s COVID positivity rate continued to fall Tuesday, remaining on the “good trajectory” state health officials say the state now has been in for almost three weeks.

In the daily report (click here), Gov. Andy Beshear announced 4,051 newly reported cases of COVID-19, a 17.16% positivity rate and 34 deaths, including the loss of a Kentuckian only 28 years old.

“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.”

The positivity rate was down from 17.93% Monday. The deaths raised the total state residents lost to COVID-related causes to 13,450. And even though the case numbers are on the decline, they remain high by historical standards in the two years since the pandemic arrived in the state. Last week was the sixth highest on record.

The state now has recorded 1,244,139 cases almost 24 months into the pandemic.

The other three key indicators — hospitalizations, patients in ICU, and patients on ventilators — to ebb and flow although overall, they are falling. Tuesday’s 1,765 people in the hospital compared to Monday’s 1,750, 2,117 Thursday, 2,142 Wednesday, 2,136 last Tuesday, 2,124 last Monday, and 2,438 two weeks ago. The number of people in intensive care was 322, unchanged from Monday but down from 394 Thursday, 399 Wednesday and 416 Tuesday; and the 167 people on a ventilator compared to 162 Monday, 195 Thursday, 200 Wednesday, and 208 Tuesday.