Beshear announces third straight week of decline in COVID cases in Kentucky

Gov. Andy Beshear announced the state’s third straight week of declining number of cases and its fourth day in a row with a positivity rate below 9 percent.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department announced 49 additional COVID–19 cases since Friday, bringing the county’s total to 3,068.

There are currently 204 active cases, of which 18 are hospitalized.

With the new cases, Whitley County’s COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 64.6.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department announced 41 additional cases of COVID–19 on Monday, bringing the county’s total to 5,467.

Laurel County announced 60 additional cases Saturday and 23 additional cases Sunday.

There are currently 78 individuals hospitalized.

With the new cases, Laurel County COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 54.5.

Knox County

The Knox County Kentucky Health Department announced 72 additional cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the county’s total to 2,801.

Fifteen of the new cases involved children, officials stated.

There are currently 192 active cases in Knox County.

With the additional cases, Knox County’s COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 72.9.

The health department also released a public advisory which states that an employee at Monica’s Nails in Corbin has tested positive for COVID. The employee as well those in their immediate work are self-quarantining.

Individuals who patronized the business on Jan. 26 or Jan. 27 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. may have been exposed. Those individuals are asked to monitor for symptoms. If those patrons begin feeling ill or show signs of the virus, the health department recommends they get tested.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department announced six additional COVID–19 cases, bringing the county’s total to 2,446.

Bell County announced seven additional cases Saturday and four additional cases Sunday.

There are currently 101 active cases, of which four are hospitalized.

With the additional cases, Bell County’s COVID–19 incidence rate stands at 45.5.

Statewide

Gov. Andy Beshear announced 1,623 additional COVID–19 cases in Kentucky on Monday, bringing the state’s total to 364,507.

Beshear reported 35 additional deaths, bringing the death toll to 3,780.

Beshear said 1,314 Kentuckians are currently hospitalized, of which 337 are in intensive care.

As of Monday, 108 of Kentucky’s 120 counties have a COVID–19 incidence rate greater than 25, which places them in the red zone.

Montgomery, Jackson, Clark, Magoffin, Crittenden, Robertson, Bath, Knott, Ballard, and Lee counties are orange zones.

Owsley and Elliot counties are yellow zones which indicates the incident rate in these counties is less than 10.

Elliot County has the lowest incidence rate at 1.9.

Morgan County has the highest incidence rate at 126.7.

In a press release Monday, Beshear said, “Remember, we are vaccinating people faster than we get doses from the federal government, and if you’re having a hard time signing up, it’s because there just aren’t enough doses. But we are working hard and everybody is going to get their turn.”

Beshear also announced 422,500 initial vaccine doses have been sent to Kentucky and 362,271 have been administered: 341,575 initial doses have been sent to the state’s distribution program and 305,757 have been administered through that program; 80,925 initial doses have been sent to Kentucky through the federal long-term care vaccination program that contracts with CVS and Walgreens and 56,514 have been administered through that program.

In other news, Beshear announced an extension of a special program that grants Kentuckians access to renew or replace a driving or identity credential through their Circuit Court Clerk’s preferred mail-in or drop method.

The order applies to Kentucky driver’s licenses, permits and state-issued identification cards that expired or will expire by June 30, 2021. Applicants who require driver testing performed by Kentucky State Police must successfully complete that step before renewing a credential.

Beshear also renewed his executive order requiring face coverings in many situations for another 30 days.