(Lancaster, KY - Jan. 25, 2022) — The Omicron variant has pushed Garrard County into the highest spike in COVID cases since the beginning of the pandemic, however less cases are resulting than with the Delta variant, which spiked in September of last year. 

At that time the incident rate topped out at 152.8 cases per 100,000 residents. The current rate in the midst of Omicron is 50 percent higher than the Delta spike in September. 

The incident rate for Garrard increased to 229.7 cases per 100,000 residents as of Tuesday evening. At this same time last week the incidence rate stood at 163.3 cases per 100,000 residents. The rate as of Tuesday kept Garrard County in the ‘red’ section of the state’s incidence rate map, along with Kentucky’s 119 other counties. 

All of the six counties bordering Garrard were also relegated to the ‘red’ portion of the state’s incidence rate map. 

Red zone counties are those with 25 or more average daily cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents. 

Boyle County had a rate of 162.1 cases per 100,000 this Tuesday (Up from 114.1 last week). Lincoln County reported 99.5 cases per 100,000 residents (Up from 82.6 last week). 

Rockcastle County reported 161.7 cases per 100,000 residents (Up from 154.0 last week). Jessamine County had a rate of 276.4 cases per 100,000 residents (Up from 275.9 last week).   

Mercer County reported a rate of 246.2 cases per 100,000 residents (Up from 184.3 last week). Madison County reported a rate of 249 cases per 100,000 residents (Up from 199.7 last week).

Kentucky’s incidence rate for the entire state also increased over the past week, standing at 235.87 cases per 100,000 residents on Tuesday afternoon; that is up from 212.98 at this same time last week.

The 7-Day incidence is calculated by taking the total number of unique cases in each county over the past 7 days, divided by 7 to get a daily average, divided by the U.S. census bureau county population, and multiplied by 100,000 to get the incidence per 100,000 people.

Garrard County’s total number of cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic stood at 3,978 cases as of Monday afternoon; with 313 new cases reported between Wednesday, January 19 and Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

There were no newly reported deaths due to COVID within Garrard County in the past week. The total number of deaths in the county attributed to the virus stands at 61.

About 9,167 Garrard Countians have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to numbers released by the state. That works out to be about 51.89 percent of the county population that has now received the vaccine.

About 62 percent of Garrard Countians above the age of 18 (8,561 people) have received the vaccine and about 82.48 percent of Garrard Countians above the age of 65 (2,674 people) have been vaccinated.

Currently about 2,844,256 Kentuckians have received at least the first dose of one of the three available vaccines. That works out to be a little more than 64 percent of Kentuckians. Only 23 percent of Kentuckians have received a booster shot.

For detailed information on COVID-19 vaccinations and more, visit kycovid19.ky.gov.