More contagious COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom confirmed in Kentucky
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 26, 2021) – Gov. Andy Beshear said he had a call today with the President’s COVID-19 team where he learned the federal government will increase each state’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines by 17%.
“That is a great start,” said Gov. Beshear. “The other thing they are doing is guaranteeing a minimum supply for three straight weeks. One of the tough things we’ve been dealing with is only knowing on a Tuesday what we would have the next week and not knowing what we would have in the weeks after.”
He also said two cases of the COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom (UK) have been confirmed in the commonwealth.
“Public health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack is going to talk about this more tomorrow. The UK variant does spread more aggressively, but he’ll take us through all the implications of having this strain here,” Beshear said.
Case Information
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, Gov. Beshear reported the following COVID-19 numbers:
New cases today: 2,714
New deaths today: 35
Positivity rate: 9.63%
Total deaths: 3,495
Currently hospitalized: 1,566
Currently in ICU: 391
Currently on ventilator: 228
Top counties with the most positive cases today are: Jefferson, Fayette, Daviess, Warren, Kenton and Pike. Each of these counties reported 75 or more new cases; Jefferson County alone reported 440.
To see a list of those reported lost to the virus today, click here.