COVID-19 cases see 'slow and steady' decline

Freddie Bourne, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·2 min read

Feb. 1—Clay Horton, public health director of the Green River District Health Department, said Tuesday that the COVID-19 pandemic remains a situation the public needs to be attentive about, even though area case numbers have been trending down.

"We're not going to have a sudden break between pandemic and endemic with COVID-19," he said. "There's going to be a gradual period of transition, and I think we've seen that already.

"We're continuing to see the transition back to normal life, and I think we will continue to. But it's not going to be anything fast or rapid."

With the Biden Administration announcing its intent to, by May, end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations related to COVID-19, Horton said its "more of a reflection of administration (and) reflections of how do you get systems and organizations ready to be prepared in the long run."

Horton said that while "we are in a better place than where we were a year ago ... COVID-19 is still having a significant impact on our world, and in our society and here in our region."

"We still see a few deaths in our seven-county district every week; you see a few dozen in the state each week," he said. "I don't want to minimize that. Those are very real consequences that have a very real impact on people's lives."

But Horton said the number of active COVID-19 cases "aren't changing as rapidly as they were in earlier days of the pandemic" and have been on a "slow and steady decline" over the past four-to-six weeks.

According to Horton, GRDHD evaluated 298 positive cases for the week of Jan. 23-29 — a drop of 51 cases compared to the first week of January.

"In terms of the previous two Januarys, it's much better," he said. "It's significantly better. ... In the last month or so, we have seen a gradual decrease; although last week we were up a little bit more than the week before."

Horton said the day-to-day guidance the public has received over the past several months remains pertinent.

"Take this seriously. Protect yourself the best that you can — which is the easiest and more effective way to do that is (staying) up to date on your vaccinations against COVID-19 ...," Horton said. "If there are additional steps that you're willing to take to protect yourself like avoiding crowded indoor spaces, wearing a well-fitting, high-quality mask when you have to be in crowded areas — I still think that's very much worthwhile."