New COVID-19 cases down from last week

Christie Netherton, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·2 min read

Oct. 16—Despite slight fluctuations throughout the week, new COVID-19 cases reported Friday by Green River District Health Department are down from last week.

GRDHD reported 296 new cases in Daviess County between Oct. 8-14 and 637 districtwide, which is down from last week's report of 327 in Daviess County between Oct. 1-7 and 711 in the district.

GRDHD reported 277 new cases in the seven-county district between Oct. 12-14, which is down from Tuesday's report of 360.

Daviess County also had a decrease in cases, with 104 reported Friday compared to 192 reported Tuesday.

The number of new cases has fluctuated slightly with each report, but Public Health Director Clay Horton said that is normal, and there has been a decline in cases throughout the past several weeks.

Friday's report showed an average of 91.1 new cases per day for the district, which is down from Tuesday's report of 94.7.

In Daviess County, the incidence rate sits at 42.6 new cases on average per day for a population of 100,000, which is slightly increased from Tuesday's report of 40.2.

"We will probably see some ebb and flow day-to-day with our new cases, but so far, the trend seems to be heading in the right direction," Horton said.

All but one county in the district is still considered at a critical rate of spread with an incidence rate more than 25 daily cases, on average.

Union County is the only county currently below the critical rate of spread at 24.8 cases on average per day, as of Friday's report.

As for whether or not the community can expect another surge as winter months begin to roll in, Horton said it depends on whether vaccination rates continue to rise.

According to Friday's report, Daviess County has a vaccination rate of 55.32%, which trails the state vaccination rate of 62%.

According to the Kentucky COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard, 40% of individuals ages 12-15 are vaccinated, 47% of those ages 16-17, 69% of individuals ages 18 and older, and 87% of those ages 65 and older.

"As long as we have a large number of unvaccinated in the population, we run the risk of seeing spikes of new cases," Horton said.

Owensboro Health reported 50 inpatient cases of COVID-19 on Thursday throughout its three facilities in Owensboro, Greenville and Leitchfield. Sixteen of those patients are in critical care.

OH Regional Hospital has 44 patients, 14 of which are in critical care, and 11 are intubated.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has decreased significantly from peak numbers of 85 patients in late-September.

GRDHD and OH continue encouraging vaccinations, masking, social distancing and frequent hand washing to combat the spread of the virus.

To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine, visit OwensboroHealth.org/Vaccines.

Christie Netherton, cnetherton@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7360