State’s positivity nears 11%, case count tops 500,000

August 9, 2021

Steve Rogers,

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Only the weekend may have slowed the steady increase in the state’s new COVID cases. But it wasn’t enough to stop the state from crossing another dark milestone.

In its daily report Monday, the state confirmed 1,301 new cases, low by comparison to other recent weekday but high for a Monday. That pushed the total cases in the state since the outbreak began to more than 500,000 at 500,267.

But other critical indicators about the spread of the virus continued up.

The state’s positivity rate hit 10.78%, up from 10.46% Friday.

Of the new cases reported Monday, 269 were in people under 18, according to Monday’s daily report.

The state reported seven new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing Kentucky’s total death toll since the pandemic began in March 2020 to 7,387.

The state reported 1,139 people in the hospital, up from 976 Friday, 939 people Thursday, 889 Wednesday, 824 people Tuesday and from just 625 10 days ago; 331 in ICU, up from 286 Friday, up from 275 Wednesday, 263 Tuesday; and 158 on a ventilator, up from 121 Friday, 108 Thursday, 100 Wednesday, and 96 Tuesday.