On Thursday, the health department reported that 5 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the last week.
The Christian County Health Department on Thursday confirmed that five residents had tested positive for COVID-19 during the week prior — down from 11 the week prior. At-home tests are not included in the department’s data.
The agency’s report also included two coronavirus deaths.
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released March 17, Christian County was in the yellow zone for community transmission, which means residents at high risk for severe illness should talk to their healthcare provider about whether to wear a mask and take other precautions, should stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, and should get tested if they have symptoms.
Kentucky recently shifted to align with the weekly community-level data reporting of the CDC, which looks at a combination of three metrics — new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percentage of staffed inpatient hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and incidence rate.
Christian County’s incidence rate on Thursday was 2.2.
Since the pandemic began, 17,149 Christian County residents — or one in four — have tested positive for the virus.
The health department is no longer offering COVID-19 testing and has cut a day from its vaccination schedule.
The Christian County Health Department discontinued COVID-19 testing services for residents on March 14. It also cut one day a week from its COVID-19 vaccination schedule.
The changes are the result of a “drastic decrease in demand for COVID-19 testing and vaccines,” department spokeswoman Cloie Rager said in a press release. She said the department would consider reopening the test site if the need arises.
Alternative testing options can be found by using the state’s COVID-19 test finding tool and vaccination sites can be found online at vaccines.gov.