LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky shattered COVID-19 case and positivity rate records for the third consecutive day on Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear said, as he announced 9,836 new cases and a positivity rate of 23.67%.
The number of daily cases is a "new record, after yesterday's new record, and the day before's new record," Beshear said in a Thursday afternoon news conference. Nearly one in four people who've gotten tested in the last seven days were positive. At that rate, "there is real cause for concern that hospitals can and maybe will be overrun, again," he said.
In addition to the daily records, the commonwealth is tracking to report a record number of weekly coronavirus cases. From Sunday to Thursday, Kentucky has confirmed 29,450 new infections, over last week's 18,591 new infections during the same time period. Last week brought more than double the number of cases than the week before, and was the second-highest week on record. The rate of people testing positive, a seven-day rolling average, has been above 20% since Jan. 2.
The governor reiterated that omicron, the highly contagious variant surging nationwide, is the dominant strain circulating in Kentucky. Although the variant appears to cause infections that are overall milder than the delta variant, wildfire-like spread of omicron and the sheer volume of people contracting the virus is now predictably putting more Kentuckians in the hospital.
"Hospital admissions are increasing, and they're starting to increase rapidly," Beshear said. "Although we're hopeful we will not see a similar increase in (intensive care unit) admissions and patients needing a ventilator, there are still people getting very sick, and the trend does not look positive."
"We are continuing to experience a surge in COVID-19 due to this variant," he said. Now that the state is more than a week into the surge, coronavirus hospitalizations are predictably rising.
Although Thursday's patient volume wasn't yet available, 1,704 were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday — an increase of 58 people from Tuesday, and 192 more people than were hospitalized on Sunday.
To help absorb the strain wrought by a deluge of coronavirus-positive patients, Beshear said his administration is once again looking at plans on how to "augment (hospital capacity) and we'll certainly want to lean on nursing programs and, if necessary, the (Kentucky) National Guard."
The best way for people to help hospitals avoid needing to triage care to a wave of sick patients is to get immunized.
"Folks, you can help us by getting vaccinated and getting your booster . . . and wearing your mask when appropriate," he said. "All our actions have repercussions."
