Julia Hunter

Among the reasons cited for the return was a decrease in local COVID-19 cases. While the incidence rate is lower than it has been all month, it remains higher than any time students were learning in person.

The first doses have gone to health care workers and, more recently, Christian County school staff, as local health officials gradually open vaccinations to local residents who fall within the next phase of the state's distribution plan.

During the most recent reporting week, Jennie Stuart's COVID-19 occupancy in the ICU and across the entire hospital reached dangerously high levels.

The district cited the recent surge of coronavirus cases, capacity limits at Jennie Stuart Medical Center and 82 virus cases and quarantines of CCPS staff.

The postponement was attributed to an "unprecedented spike in COVID cases and hospitalizations over the last 48 hours."

Although the department is still working through phase 1a of the state's vaccine distribution plan, it expects to move to phase 1b in early February.

For the fourth day in a row, COVID-19 hospitalizations at Jennie Stuart have reached a record high.

Local "non-hospital" health care agencies — as well as emergency responders that provide medical care — that haven't signed up to receive the vaccine can do so on the health department's website.

As Christian County health officials pivot to focus on mass vaccination, the site will be open for testing on a more limited basis.

For the week of Dec. 18 through 24, the hospital reached record highs for the total number of inpatient beds occupied by coronavirus patients and its overall proportion of COVID-19 patients.

AT&T is expected to deploy 24 additional portable cell sites by the end of the day.

Hoptown Chronicle has compiled several area hotspots that may be helpful to residents looking to connect during the outage.