Local community levels listed as high

By TONY FYFFE

BSN Editor

New case numbers have been cut in half, but COVID-19 community levels are listed as high in Lawrence, Johnson, Floyd and Martin counties under a new model implemented by the Centers for Disease Control.

COVID-19 community levels are “a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data,” the CDC says on its website.

“Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area,” the website says.

The CDC recommends that residents in counties with high levels wear a mask indoors in public, stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if they have symptoms. Additional precautions may be need for people at high risk for severe illness, the CDC says.

A total of 203 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Lawrence, Johnson, Floyd and Martin counties between Tuesday, March 1, through Monday, March 7, compared to 435 the previous seven-day period.

The number of new cases includes 37 in Lawrence County, 40 in Johnson County, 84 in Floyd County and 42 in Martin County.

The Lawrence County Health Department, which this week began releasing abbreviated COVID-19 information, reported one coronavirus-related death on Monday, bringing the county’s total to 64.

The total number of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020 includes 4,606 in Lawrence County, 6,527 in Johnson County, 12,548 in Floyd County and 3,555 in Martin County.

Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that Kentucky is seeing a “steady decline” in COVID-19 numbers.

“Some might worry that our cases are plateauing, but two weeks ago, we had President’s Day, so we believe that some of the cases that otherwise would have been in two weeks ago, ended up coming in last week,” Beshear said. “Our hope is that next week we will see an even larger decline.”