Green River District officials urge caution despite fewer COVID cases

HENDERSON, Ky. — With the number of new COVID-19 cases in the region showing a continued decline, health officials are warning to remain cautious as incidence rates are still “extremely high.”

Friday’s report from the Green River District Health Department counted 1,437 new cases and nine COVID-related deaths in the seven-county district.

The seven-day average for new cases is now 475 per day, showing an overall drop in the number of cases over the past week. In the previous GRDHD report, that number was 656. Last Friday, it was 813.7.

Henderson County had 290 cases and three deaths. There have been 635 cases in Daviess County with four deaths and 216 in Ohio County with two deaths. Union County had 97 cases, Webster 94, McLean 58 and Hancock 47.

The GRDHD report spans three days from February 1-3. In its previous tally on Tuesday, the health department counted 1,729 cases and four deaths. Tuesday’s report marked the first decrease in the number of new cases since early November.

“While they continue to be extremely high, we are starting to see some decline in our incidence rates of COVID-19,” said Clay Horton, director of public health for GRDHD. “Even though we are seeing some improvement, COVID-19 is still a risk. The best way to protect yourself and those you love is to get vaccinated against COVID-19.”

All 120 counties in the state are still considered high transmission or “red” status areas. A high transmission area is defined as 25 or more cases per capita by the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Ohio County has the highest incidence rate in the region at 202.4. Henderson has the lowest rate in the region at 156.1. Statewide, Kentucky’s incidence rate is 157.2, the seventh highest in the nation.

There have been 59,899 cases reported in the district since the start of the pandemic, with 751 deaths. Statewide, there have been 1,160,558 confirmed cases and 12,960 COVID-related deaths.

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Henderson Mask Policies

Face masks are required in all Henderson city government buildings for city employees, visitors and customers.

Henderson County Schools has implemented universal masking for all students, faculty and visitors. On Thursday, the school system updated its Healthy at School plan, which continues to require the wearing of masks on school grounds and on buses. Wearing a mask is strongly recommended, but not mandatory, during extracurricular activities.

COVID Vaccine Information

Kentucky residents can visit vaccine.ky.gov to find a vaccine location and sign up to receive update notifications. Additional information about the COVID-19 vaccine is available at vaccines.gov.

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Retail pharmacies and health centers are also providing COVID-19 vaccines. Kentucky COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard and Information: https://govstatus.egov.com/ky-covid-vaccine Kentucky COVID-19 Hotline: 800-722-5725 can answer general questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Demography

Cases reported by the Green River District Health Department are being investigated and confirmed locally. These cases are then reported to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

As of Friday, the total number of cases reported in the Green River District by county, current COVID-19 hospitalizations, cases ever hospitalized, number of deaths by county and percentage of residents who have received at least one dose of vaccine are :

Davies: 28,964 29,648,351 58.67

Hancock: 2,261 1 37 22 65.66

Henderson: 12,724 3,267,147 57.41

McLean: 2,437 0 79 46 53.98

Ohio: 7,160 6,196 93 43.73

Union: 4,023 0 122 53 46.42

Webster: 3,731 0 101 48 50.90

Total: 61,336 39 1,450,760 NA

Additional demographic information

Average age: 39

Age range: 5 days to 104 years

Male: 46.5%

Women: 53.5%

GRDHD COVID-19 cases by age group

1-11: 8%

12-19: 12%

20-29: 16%

30-39: 16%

40-49: 15%

50-59: 13%

60-69: 10%

70-79: 5%

80+: 3%