The latest weekly COVID-19 report released this week by the Kentucky Department for Public Health, was mostly good news, except for increases in new cases and hospitalizations.

A total of 5,044 new cases were reported to state public health officials for the seven-day period ending Oct. 23.

That compares to 3,240 last week and is the highest total in four weeks. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Kentucky to 1,606,862 since the first one was reported in March 2020, a woman in Harrison County.

Four counties reported more than 100 new cases in this latest report, the same number as last week. Jefferson had 749, Fayette 177, Kenton 107, and Boone 104.  By comparison, two weeks ago there were five counties with more than 100 new cases. The Oct. 3 report had only three counties, with six the week before that.

It should be noted, however, that the number of positive cases is likely undercounted, as many people who test positive after taking a home test do not report it to state public health officials, if they do not require medical treatment or were asymptomatic.

The number of new deaths continued a decline, with 70 for the week ending Oct. 23. This is 10 less than last week and 11 less than two weeks ago. Three weeks ago, there were 61. There have now been 17,261 deaths in Kentucky since the start of the pandemic.

A total of 262 Kentuckians are hospitalized with COVID-19. Of them, 41 were in intensive care with 16 on a ventilator. Last week’s hospital census included 253 people hospitalized, with 28 in the ICU and 15 on a ventilator. Those numbers are still below the total from two weeks ago.

Kentucky’s positivity rate, which measures the number of cases from all tests performed except those from home testing kits, stood at 7.64%, which is the lowest rate since May.  Last week it was 8.50%, and two weeks ago registered 7.91%.

On the Oct. 21 Community levels map issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 89 of Kentucky’s 120 counties were in the green, indicating a low community level of COVID.  27 others are yellow indicating a medium level, while four counties in eastern Kentucky are red, showing a high level.

For more details on Kentucky’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, community levels and more, go to the state’s website, http://kycovid19.ky.gov/.