Coronavirus cases surge 30.7% in Kentucky, state ranked 16th for fastest spread
New coronavirus cases leaped in Kentucky in the week ending Saturday, rising 30.7% as 23,882 cases were reported. The previous week had 18,274 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Kentucky ranked No. 16 among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week the United States added 1,336,636 reported cases of coronavirus, an increase of 17.2% from the week before. Across the country, 36 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Within Kentucky, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Marion, Washington and Hart counties.
Adding the most new cases overall were Jefferson County, with 3,964 cases; Fayette County, with 1,978 cases; and Boone County, with 820. Weekly case counts rose in 94 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Daviess, Fayette and Hardin counties.
The share of Kentucky test results that came back positive was 13% in the latest week, compared with 13% in the week before, a USA TODAY Network analysis of COVID Tracking Project data shows. In the latest week, 183,477 tests were administered; a week earlier, that figure was 140,657.
Experts say it is important to look at the share of tests that come back positive, not just case counts, to get a better idea of whether the rate of new infections is changing or if differences in testing are playing a role.
The World Health Organization says places should be conducting enough tests to have fewer than 5% coming back positive. Places where the percentage is higher could struggle to complete contact tracing soon enough to prevent spread of the virus.
Across Kentucky, cases fell in 24 counties, with the best declines in Madison, Floyd and Wayne counties.
In the state, 177 people died in the latest week. In the previous week, 102 people died.
A total of 198,064 people in Kentucky have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 2,062 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows.
In the United States 14,581,337 people have tested positive and 281,186 people have died.