LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This is a weekly blog with daily updates on COVID-19 case numbers, vaccination efforts and other related content across Kentucky for the week of May 3, 2021.
Sunday, May 9
Kentucky officials have reported 195 new cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth.
Eight more Kentuckians also lost their battle to the virus, bringing the overall death total to 6,586.
The positivity rate dipped a bit to 3.28%.
About 1.86 million Kentuckians have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Kentucky has recorded 448,952 cases since the pandemic began last year.
Saturday, May 8
State officials have announced an additional 544 cases of COVID-19.
Jefferson County also reported 73 deaths included in those numbers.
Kentucky currently has a positivity rate of 3.32%.
Officials said 18 more people have died from the virus, bringing the total to 6,578.
More than 1.8 million Kentuckians have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Friday, May 7
A day after outlining plans to loosen COVID-19 restrictions within the month, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear confirmed 638 new cases of COVID-19 cases in the state.
An additional 10 deaths were announced and the state's positivity rate stands at 3.50%.
Beshear announced that over 1.85 million Kentuckians have received at least their first dose a COVID-19 vaccine.
Thursday, May 6
Governor Andy Beshear confirmed 655 new cases of COVID-19 and 6 more deaths related to the virus.
The state's test positivity rate is 3.51%.
So far, more than 1.8 million Kentuckians have received at least their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those eligible to receive the vaccine, 52% have been vaccinated.
The governor announced an upcoming loosening of COVID-19 restrictions. On May 28, all indoor and outdoor events of under 1,000 people may expand to 75% capacity and events of more than 1,000 people may expand to 60% capacity.
Beshear also gave an update on how the state's economy is doing. According to Beshear, Kentucky's sales tax broke records in April 2021, hitting $486.5 million.
"Anyone who suggests that our economy is not open, we just had the best sales tax month for an April ever in our history," Beshear said.
He urged those who have not been vaccinated to make an appointment at one of the state's vaccine locations.
Wednesday, May 5
Kentucky reported 710 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday.
The state's test positivity rate is up to 3.57%.
According to Governor Beshear's office, 1,837,229 Kentuckians have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Because so many Kentuckians have rolled up their sleeves for these vaccines, these shots of hope, we’ve been able to increase capacity in most businesses to 60% and return child care classrooms to their traditional sizes,” Beshear said in a release. “We’ve been able to shorten and simplify Healthy at Work minimum requirements. We’ve been able to lift the mask mandate for smaller, outdoor events. That’s all because of you. And as more Kentuckians get vaccinated, it will be safer to lift even more restrictions.”
Tuesday, May 4
Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed another 776 cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky.
There were also seven coronavirus-related deaths.
The positivity rate is currently at 3.47%.
Beshear said about 1,835,176 people have received at least their first dose of the virus.
“We’re getting closer to reaching our 2.5 million–vaccine Team Kentucky Vaccination Challenge every day, but we need to pick up the pace, especially among younger Kentuckians,” Gov. Beshear said. “There are vaccination appointments available every week, at many different times throughout the day. At some sites, you don’t even need an appointment. Get it done, for yourself and for your community, so we can reach our goal and relax more restrictions.”
Top five counties by vaccination rate: Woodford (55%), Franklin (54%), Fayette (52%), Scott (45%) and Jefferson (44%).
Bottom five counties by vaccination rate: Christian (17%), Spencer (17%), Ballard (19%), McCreary (20%) and Lewis (20%).
Monday, May 3
As Kentuckians are encouraged to get vaccinated to help stop COVID-19, Gov. Andy Beshear announced 313 additional cases on Monday.
Eight more Kentuckians have lost their lives to the virus including 5 people, Beshear said, was from the continuing death audit.
The positivity rate stats at 3.45%.
There are currently 414 Kentuckians hospitalized, 102 in intensive care and 47 on a ventilator.
Vaccine progress
Gov. Beshear and Dr. Steven Stack said Kentucky will now shift from the state's data system to the federal system so that numbers can line up with the CDC's reporting.
The governor said the CDC is reporting 1,833,652 unique Kentuckians have been vaccinated. However, Beshear explained around 78,368 of those vaccinations were from people who were not from Kentucky but was vaccinated here.
He also mentioned that 92,991 Kentuckians had received their vaccinations out of state.
That number, according to his office, should be around 1,848,275 vaccinated.
Beshear said about 651,725 people need to get their vaccination to meet the 2.5 million vaccination goal.
The state will also report the top/bottom counties for vaccine progress.
Woodford County is leading the way with 55% of its residents vaccinated.
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As of Sunday, 1,768,443 Kentuckians had received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Beshear continues to urge those who have not been vaccinated to make an appointment at one of the many vaccine clinics across the state.
On Sunday, Kentucky reported 368 new cases of COVID-19 ad five more deaths. That brought the total of cases since the start of the pandemic to 445,139 and 6,517 deaths.
The test positivity rate is 3.43%.
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