Jennie Stuart

From Jan. 8 to 14, the percentage of occupied ICU beds at Jennie Stuart was higher than any other time for which data is available.

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 Hopkinsville clinic is one of 33 regional sites in Kentucky. It will administer the Moderna vaccine.

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.

A recent fast spread of the coronavirus raises fear that the U.S. has developed a more contagious strain.

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.

Ten days after the state's first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on March 6, the governor ordered the initial round of business closures. By the end of the year, 57 virus-related deaths had been confirmed in Christian County.

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.