Friday was another record high day of positive COVID-19 cases reported for the Lake Cumberland area (429). We are now at the highest transmission rate for this virus that our region has seen during this pandemic, with more active cases now than at any other time. Of today’s 429 reported cases, 404 (94%) were unvaccinated and 155 of today’s cases (36%) were in individuals 18 years of age or younger. Please take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones. Consider getting the vaccine if you are eligible and haven’t, and wear a mask when in indoor settings where there are large crowds.
Statewide Testing Positivity Rate: 13.33%.
Deaths: We are sad to report 4 new deaths since our last report. We have experienced a total of 506 deaths resulting in a 1.8% mortality rate (about 1 in 56) among known cases. This compares with a 1.37% mortality rate at the state level and a 1.65% 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 57 cases in the hospital. This is 1 less than what we reported in our last report. We have had a total of 1,459 hospitalizations resulting in a 5.19% hospitalization rate (about 1 in 19) among known cases. The state hospitalization rate is 4.57%. The latest data shows that 95.56% of Lake Cumberland’s ICU beds are filled, and 16.67% of ventilator capacity is being utilized.
Total (Cumulative) Cases: The Lake Cumberland District has experienced a total of 28,122 cases since the onset of the outbreak. This means that 13.46% 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, 0.96% are reinfections, and 4.78% contracted the virus after being fully vaccinated (breakthrough cases). In the last week, 7.11% of our new cases were breakthrough cases.
Released (Not contagious) Cases: We released 236 cases since our last report from isolation. Released cases include: Adair: 20; Casey: 17; Clinton: 8; Cumberland: 9; Green: 23; McCreary: 25; Pulaski: 44; Russell: 27; Taylor: 56; and, Wayne: 7. In all, we have released 92.8% of our total cases.
Active (Current) Cases: Since our last report, we added 189 more cases than we had deceased and/or released cases. This leaves us with 1,523 active cases in our district across all 10 of our district’s 10 counties. On 08/27/2021 we were at our peak number of active cases, 1,523.
Where Did Cases Visit Prior to Isolation: The most common places cases visited prior to isolation are (in descending order): Schools, Businesses, Family, and Medical Facilities. Of our active cases, 22% can not be tied back to another known case (community-spread cases).
New Cases: We report that our total case count has increased by 429 since our last report. Our new cases (including suspect cases) are as follows: Adair: 33; Casey: 38; Clinton: 63; Cumberland: 19; Green: 28; McCreary: 48; Pulaski: 58; Russell: 50; Taylor: 88; and, Wayne: 4. Our current new case growth rate is: 1.00899. This means our total case count is projected to double every 77.43 days. The most new cases we ever added in a single day was on 08/27/2021 when we added 429 cases.
The deaths we report today include: a Casey County resident (vaccination status unknown) who was in the 80-89 year age group; an Adair County resident (unvaccinated) who was in the 70-79 year age group; a Wayne County resident (unvaccinated) who was in the 50-59 year age group; and a Pulaski County resident (unvaccinated) who was in the 80-89 year age group. We offer our deepest sympathies to these families.
Additionally, out of today’s 429 reported cases, 155 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 14,053 new cases since the vaccine started becoming available, almost 95.22% were unvaccinated.
Below are our area’s COVID-19 vaccination uptake rates compared to the state average (last updated 8/25/2021).
State – 56.00%
Taylor – 47.23%
Pulaski – 44.21%
Russell – 41.00%
Green – 35.88%
Wayne – 34.07%
Adair – 33.46%
Cumberland – 32.83%
Casey – 30.90%
Clinton – 28.59%
McCreary – 27.63%