Cases on rise in state

By TONY FYFFE

BSN Editor

COVID-19 is on the rise across Kentucky, with Gov. Andy Beshear reporting the highest single-day total of new cases on Monday.

Monday’s 6,441cases bested the 5,742 reported on Jan. 6, 2021, according to Beshear, who blamed the increase on the COVID-19 omicron variant.

He said the omicron variant has “hit us harder, in terms of escalation of cases, than anything we have seen to date.”

“We have gone from the plateau to the second highest week of reported cases since the start of the pandemic,” Beshear said.

COVID-19 cases also increased last week in Lawrence, Johnson, Floyd and Martin counties, with 428 reported between Tuesday, Dec. 28, and Monday, Jan. 3.

New cases as of Monday included 56 in Lawrence County, 142 in Johnson County, 171 in Floyd County and 59 in Martin County.

Active cases on Monday included 41 in Lawrence County, 196 in Johnson County, 245 in Floyd County and 80 in Martin County.

Three additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported, including one in Lawrence County on Monday, bringing its total to 54; and two in Johnson County on Wednesday, Dec. 29, upping its total to 71.

All four counties remained in the red on the state’s incidence rate map Monday with rates of 49.4 in Lawrence, 38.6 in Johnson, 65.4 in Floyd and 63.8 in Martin.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, a total of 3,232 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Lawrence County, 4,856 in Johnson County, 8,278 in Floyd County and 2,456 in Martin County.