New COVID cases continue to fall in Kentucky, though 1 county at high level this week

Aaron Mudd
·2 min read

COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to decline last week in Kentucky, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency reported Thursday the state added 1,891 cases over the course of the week — nearly 400 fewer cases than the week before (March 2 to 9), when the state added 2,262 new cases.

Kentucky saw an increase in COVID-19 deaths last week, however. The figure rose to 47 new deaths, compared to the previous week’s 36. In total, Kentucky has lost more than 18,000 lives to the virus. Increases in coronavirus deaths generally tend to lag behind cases, CDC data show.

Also Thursday, Kentucky saw one county’s community level shoot into the high category after a two-week period of reporting zero counties at that level.

Here’s what to know about the state of the coronavirus pandemic in Kentucky.

Where to mask up in Kentucky

After two weeks with no Kentucky county experiencing a high COVID-19 community level, Menifee County has reached that classification, which is when the CDC recommends masking while indoors in public.

The community levels are based on weekly totals of new infections and hospital admissions, along with weekly averages of staffed, COVID-occupied hospital beds.

The latest available CDC data for Menifee County shows a case rate of 261.98 per 100,000 population. At the moment, the percentage of staffed, inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients at hospitals in the area is less than 2%, and there have been 11.6 coronavirus hospital admissions per 100,000 people.

More Kentucky counties move to low community level

In an encouraging sign, more Kentucky counties are moving out of the medium community level of COVID-19. Previously, 20 Kentucky counties were at medium.

But as of Thursday, the number had been cut virtually in half, and there are nine Kentucky counties at medium.

The latest COVID-19 community levels in Kentucky from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to date as of March 17, 2023. The green counties are at low, the yellow at medium and the orange at high.
The latest COVID-19 community levels in Kentucky from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to date as of March 17, 2023. The green counties are at low, the yellow at medium and the orange at high.

At medium, the CDC recommends people at greater risk of getting very sick wear a high-quality mask or respirator, like an N95, when indoors in public and limit close contact with others outside home, among other recommendations.

As for Fayette County, it remained at a low COVID-19 community level again Thursday. The CDC reported a weekly case rate of 30.02 per 100,000 people in the county.

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