For only the third time this pandemic, there are less than 100 ICU beds available statewide.
While there were 4,891 newly reported COVID cases Thursday, Governor Beshear announced just 93 adult ICU beds remain in Kentucky and 66 of Kentucky’s 96 hospitals are reporting critical staffing shortages—he also reported 62 new deaths, saying he knows of several victims in their twenties who have not yet been reported to the state.
As of Thursday, 59 percent of all Kentuckians have received at lease their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack says they’re predicting a bad flu season on top of the pandemic and are encouraging everyone to get their flu shot along with their COVID vaccination.
The positivity rate decreased slightly once again to 13 percent even—there were 2,453 individuals in the hospital with COVID-19, 667 in the ICU and 448 on a ventilator.