Plague:” A disastrous evil or affliction.”
New cases soaring.
It is clear that Kentucky’s allotment of the Covid-19 pandemic is not under control. In Jefferson County, our largest, it is currently described as a “wildfire still burning” by a senior county public health officer and where the mayor has extended his order declaring a state of emergency through September 30. New cases are exploding in smaller and more rural counties where previous total cases had been sparse. At 608 cases per day, the current 7-Day average of new cases statewide continues to gyrate widely depending on day of the week but is hovering at three times what it was through May and June. Even if this represents a “plateau” in the number of daily new cases, at the current rate of expansion we remain on-track to double the aggregate number of total cases every month. The 4352 new state-wide cases last week fell short by only a little the highest weekly total ever.
Deaths following.
The 12 deaths reported yesterday represent the highest daily reported count since May 30th. The 7-Day average number of deaths reported daily at 6.7 is currently the highest since June 5th. This number is expected to rise as deaths catch up with cases. In Kentucky, currently 2.1% of all reported cases have died. The true number is certainly higher than this due to unrecognized Covid-19 cases and the collateral damage resulting from unmet medical needs in disrupted medical and social systems. Covid-19 patients currently reported as being in the Hospital or ICU– even if not overwhelming for any given hospital– remain higher than at any time since the epidemic began.