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16 Kentucky counties at high COVID-19 community level as state tallies 5,100 new cases

Lexington Herald-Leader - 1/17/2023

Kentucky saw 5,116 new COVID-19 cases over the course of last reporting week, the latest available data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

Gov. Andy Beshear reiterated Thursday during his weekly news conference the state is continuing to watch the highly transmissible XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant.

The strain is responsible for about 28% of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to CDC projections reported by the journal Nature last week. While there’s no evidence to suggest XBB.1.5 makes people sicker than previous strains, it appears to be highly immune evasive.

In light of these developments, Beshear continues to campaign for more widespread uptake of the new bivalent booster. He pointed out Thursday only 12% of qualifying Kentuckians have received the booster.

Beshear said he was “confident” the vaccine booster would prove effective against the XBB.1.5 subvariant, though he acknowledged that claim as untested: “We’re waiting for the data to come in.”

To support his hypothesis, Beshear pointed out XBB.1.5 is the product of recombination of two previous omicron subvariants, as reported by CNN.

“Since the vaccine worked well against each of them individually, it should work well against this,” Beshear said.

While vaccination doesn’t reduce your risk of COVID-19 infection to zero, it’s currently the best protection against the disease’s most serious outcomes, like making you sick enough to need hospitalization.

You can find COVID-19 vaccines near you at vaccines.gov.

Where does Kentucky stand with COVID-19?

The latest update from the CDC Thursday shows Kentucky added more than 5,000 cases last week. That’s up from the previous week, when 4,732 new cases were recorded in the state. Two weeks ago, Kentucky saw 3,976 new cases, confirming cases have been rising since the holidays.

The state’s positivity rate, according to the CDC, is still somewhere between 10 and 14.9%, though this metric has become less reliable because it does not include all test results.

The CDC reported 37 additional deaths over the course of the reporting week, which ran Jan. 5 to 12.

Kentucky has seen more than 17,000 deaths to COVID-19, according to the state Department for Public Health’s latest report.

Community transmission of COVID-19 remains substantial or high across the vast majority of the state, according to the CDC.

In terms of community levels of COVID-19 – which take into account weekly averages of new infections, hospital admissions and capacity – Kentucky has 16 counties with high levels. That’s up from last week’s report, when 13 counties were at that level.

The 17 counties are Simpson, Allen, Clinton, Boyle, Perry, Breathitt, Menifee, Rowan, Carter, Greenup, Boyd, Lawrence, Elliott, Morgan, Martin and Pike.

Another 49 counties are at medium, with the remainder at low.

Fayette County is among the counties at the medium COVID-19 community level this week.

According to CDC guidance, people in counties at high should pivot to wearing masks indoors when in public, and if they’re vulnerable for severe COVID-19, consider limiting public activities where they could be exposed.

Do you have a question about the coronavirus in Kentucky for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.

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