This is the single largest day of new cases for the district that we have reported since the pandemic began. Our previous highest day was 301 cases on 12/30/2020. Today we report 318 total cases for our ten counties.  Additionally, it is the highest day ever reported for Adair and Taylor Counties. Please be cautious and take the necessary safety measures for you and your families. Consider the vaccine, if you are not vaccinated, and mask up when in large gatherings, especially indoors.

On Monday (8/23), the health department clinics will begin scheduling appointments for the additional dose of vaccine for the immunocompromised groups that have been identified as needing another dose. Those groups include persons who:

are receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood;
received an organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress their immune systems;
received a stem cell transplant within the last 2 years or are taking medicine to suppress their immune system;
have moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, WiskottAldrich syndrome);
have advanced or untreated HIV infection;
are undergoing active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that suppress their immune response.

Statewide Testing Positivity Rate: 12.8%.

Deaths: We are sad to report 2 new deaths since our last report. We have experienced a total of 492 deaths resulting in a 1.87% mortality rate (about 1 in 53) among known cases. This compares with a 1.41% mortality rate at the state level and a 1.67% mortality rate at the national level. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families and friends who have lost loved ones.

Hospitalizations: We presently have 46 cases in the hospital. This is 5 more than what we reported in our last report. We have had a total of 1,413 hospitalizations resulting in a 5.36% hospitalization rate (about 1 in 19) among known cases. The state hospitalization rate is 4.72%. The latest data shows that 93.33% of Lake Cumberland’s ICU beds are filled, and 25.4% of ventilator capacity is being utilized.

Total (Cumulative) Cases: The Lake Cumberland District has experienced a total of 26,379 cases since the onset of the outbreak. This means that 12.63% of our total population has been a confirmed case. However, we do not know how many additional people may have had COVID-19 and were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and never tested. Of our total cases, 0.83% are reinfections, and 4.44% contracted the virus after being fully vaccinated (breakthrough cases). In the last week, 10.12% of our new cases were breakthrough cases.

Released (Not contagious) Cases: We released 172 cases since our last report from isolation. Released cases include: Adair: 17; Casey: 19; Clinton: 9; Cumberland: 3; Green: 14; McCreary: 16; Pulaski: 42; Russell: 16; Taylor: 27; and, Wayne: 9. In all, we have released 93.8% of our total cases.

Active (Current) Cases: Since our last report, we added 144 more cases than we had deceased and/or released cases. This leaves us with 1,132 active cases in our district across all 10 of our district’s 10 counties. On 12/10/2020 we were at our peak number of active cases, 1,338.

Where Did Cases Visit Prior to Isolation: The most common places cases visited prior to isolation are (in descending order): Businesses, Schools, Medical Facilities, and Family. Of our active cases, 26% can not be tied back to another known case (community-spread cases).

New Cases: We report that our total case count has increased by 318 since our last report. Our new cases (including suspect cases) are as follows: Adair: 36; Casey: 22; Clinton: 24; Cumberland: 4; Green: 24; McCreary: 21; Pulaski: 68; Russell: 43; Taylor: 63; and, Wayne: 13. Our current new case growth rate is: 1.00663. This means our total case count is projected to double every 104.84 days. The most new cases we ever added in a single day was on 08/20/2021 when we added 318 cases.

We are saddened to report two deaths today – one was a Taylor County resident (unvaccinated) who was in the 70-79 year age group, and the other was a Wayne County resident (unvaccinated) who was in the 50-59 year age group. Our hearts break for these families.

Additionally, out of today’s 318 reported cases, 85 of them were in individuals age 18 or younger.

Again, we encourage our citizens to take the COVID-19 vaccine, which is safe and very effective. Of our 12,310 new cases since the vaccine started becoming available, almost 95.56% were unvaccinated. Below are our area’s COVID-19 vaccination uptake rates compared to the state average.

State – 55.00%
Taylor – 46.21%
Pulaski – 43.48%
Russell – 40.34%
Green – 34.92%
Wayne – 33.21%
Adair – 32.92%
Cumberland – 31.91%
Casey – 30.08%
Clinton – 27.61%
McCreary – 27.04%

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