The Washington Post places Kentucky in the national spotlight for fighting C-19

Washington Post reports Kentucky the only state slowing the spread.

Two regions in the red down from four

New vaccine link on ky.gov

Governor Andy Beshear COVID-19 update

Kentucky gets a nod from the Washington Post as the only state in the country seeing better results in its efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. In today's edition of the Post, a grim statistic was shared. On the National war against C-19, a death happens every 33 seconds. "In every state but Kentucky, more intensive care unit beds are in use than were in use three months ago." Governor Andy Beshear said its good to hear that what we've been doing as a state is paying off. 

Beshear said this isn't a time to slack-off. The White House task force is recommending that everyone over the age of 65 with heart, lung, or kidney disease must wear a mask when indoors. Governor Andy Beshear said, "There's so much disease out there," that its imperative to wear a mask.

The Governor reported COVID-19 weekly case statistics. He said, "For two straight weeks the number of positive cases is decreasing. We are stabilizing." He reported that the positivity rate is running around eight-and-a-half percent. That the hospitalization capacity is down from four regions in the red to two. This is referring to the number of regions that have ICU beds at or above 80% capacity.

Todays COVID-19 numbers Monday, December 21 are as follows:
1,988 new positive cases
244,297 total positive cases since March
1,580 hospitalizations
8.64% positivity rate
411 ICU beds
231 ventilators
15 deaths​
In western Kentucky, there were two deaths in Lyon County and two deaths in Caldwell County. There have been 2,412 Kentuckians that have lost their life to COVID-19. 

There's a new vaccine link on ky.gov. Information will be gathered each week on vaccine distribution and immunizations. The weekly report, Monday through Friday, can be monitored on the website. The data doesn't include long term care vaccines. For the week ending Friday, December 18:
Phase 1 distribution of  23,475
Doses administered statewide 7,319
Available to be administered 16,156

Remember for the holidays, group gatherings should be no more than eight people from two different households. Dr. Steven Stack, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Public Health reiterated the importance of keeping within the guidelines. He said it's important that Kentuckians follow recommendations to prevent further prevent the spread of disease.

Dr. Stack briefly discussed the vaccine distribution. He said, "We could prevent nearly three-quarters of the deaths in Kentucky if we get those over 70 immunized."  The CDC has recommended that front-line healthcare workers, long term care patients and staff, and now adults over the age of 75 and other essential workers should be next in line, according to recommendations by the CDC advisory panel. Stack said there have been patients that don't fit into any of these categories asking their physician to give them the shot. Dr. Stack is asking everyone to cooperate and follow the CDC recommendations.