FRANKFORT, Ky. — Governor Andy Beshear continued his calls for Kentuckians to get vaccinated and wear masks as the commonwealth recorded its third straight day of record-breaking case numbers.
Beshear reported 9,836 new COVID-19 cases in the state Thursday — the highest number of new cases in a single day during the pandemic. He discussed the commonwealth’s latest data during an afternoon press conference.
“Hospital admissions are also increasing and they’re starting to increase rapidly,” Beshear said. “Although we’re hopeful we will not see a similar increase in ICU admissions and patients needing a ventilator, there are still people getting very sick and the trend does not look positive in either of those areas.”
The state also broke its previous record with Thursday’s 23.67% daily test positivity rate. In addition to those numbers, the governor said he is also concerned about low vaccination rates for children. According to the most recent data, only 17% of children 5- to 11-year-olds have gotten at least one dose.
The state is now looking at possible measures to support hospitals should they become overwhelmed due to this latest surge, which health officials attribute to the quickly spreading Omicron variant. Beshear said the situation is not dire enough to resort to some of the measures they’ve used previously, but he warned it could be soon.
“There is real cause for concern that hospitals can and maybe will be overrun again,” Beshear said. “We are looking at plans on how to augment them and we’ll certainly want to lean on both nursing programs and, if necessary, the National Guard.”
Here is a summary of the latest COVID-19 data from Kentucky:
- New Cases Today: 9,836
- New Deaths: 35
- Today’s Positivity Rate: 23.67%
- Current Hospitalizations: 1,783
- Current Intensive Care Admittance: 402
- Current Ventilator Usage: 227
RELATED | Ohio sets 6th consecutive record with daily COVID hospitalizations
RELATED | COVID test kits near me: Where to find a coronavirus test in the Tri-State
