Henderson, Kentucky-area COVID numbers continue to fall, but infection rates 'still high'

HENDERSON, Ky. — While the newest COVID-19 statistics from the Green River District Health Department continue to show an overall downward trend, health officials say vigilance in key in making sure that momentum continues.

The health department recorded 534 new COVID cases and three deaths in Tuesday's report. Those numbers span four days from Feb. 11-14. In the GRDHD's previous news release Friday, there were 796 cases in a three-day period.

Henderson County accounted for more than one-third of Tuesday's total, with 181 new cases. Daviess County had 193 cases, Union 50, Ohio 46, Webster 22, McLean 22 and Hancock 20. The three deaths were residents of Daviess, Hancock and McLean counties.

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The current seven-day average is now 190.1 new cases per day, down from 236.3 in Friday's report and 278 one week ago. On Jan. 28, the seven-day average peaked at 849 cases per day, with the district experiencing record-breaking numbers daily throughout the month after the holidays.

"We are glad to see the fast decline in our incidence rates of COVID-19," GRDHD Public Health Director Clay Horton said. "While our rates are still high, we could be in a better place in a few weeks. If we want to see this rapid decline continue, we shouldn’t let our guard down yet."

Of the state's 120 counties, 116 remain at "red" status as areas of high transmission. The Kentucky Department for Public Health defines a high transmission area as 25 cases or more per capita. McLean has the highest incidence rate in the region at 79.1. Henderson has the area's lowest rate at 43.

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Statewide, Kentucky's incidence rate is 79.7, the seventh-highest in the nation. That number is down from 82.5 in the previous update

There have been 63,172 cases reported in the district since the beginning of the pandemic, with 770 deaths. Statewide, there have been 1,232,297 confirmed cases and 13,300 COVID-related deaths.

Henderson mask policies

Facemasks are required at all Henderson city government buildings for city employees, visitors and customers.

Henderson County Schools has universal masking in effect for all students, faculty and visitors. Masking is highly recommended, but not required, at extracurricular activities.

COVID vaccine information

Kentucky residents can visit vaccine.ky.gov to find a vaccine location and sign up for update notifications. Additional COVID-19 vaccine information can be found at vaccines.gov.

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Retail pharmacies and health centers are also providing COVID-19 vaccinations. Kentucky COVID-19 vaccine dashboard and information: https://govstatus.egov.com/ky-covid-vaccine Kentucky COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline: 800-722-5725 can answer general COVID-19 vaccine questions.

Demographics

The cases being reported from the Green River District Health Department are being investigated and confirmed locally. These cases are then reported to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

As of Tuesday, the total reported cases in the Green River district by county, current COVID-19 hospitalizations, the cases ever hospitalized, the number of deaths by county and the percent of residents having received at least one dose of the vaccine are:

Daviess: 29,778 14 665 355 58.97

Hancock: 2,330 0 37 24 65.87

Henderson: 13,151 3 268 148 57.65

McLean: 2,551 0 79 47 54.23

Ohio: 7,401 2 198 95 43.95

Union: 4,139 0 122 53 46.65

Webster: 3,822 0 102 48 51.09

Total: 63,172 19 1,471 770 NA

Additional demographic information

Average Age: 39

Age Range: 5 days to 104 years old

Male: 46.4%

Female: 53.6%

GRDHD COVID-19 Cases by Age Group

<1: 1%

1-11: 8%

12-19: 12%

20-29: 16%

30-39: 16%

40-49: 15%

50-59: 13%

60-69: 10%

70-79: 6%

80+: 3%

This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: COVID case update for Henderson, Kentucky and Green River District