Yesterday, Governor Andy Beshear announced that Kentucky has surpassed 1 million total Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 1,014,703 total cases as of Tuesday.

The Governor also announced the state’s highest ever day for newly reported cases on Saturday – 14,896 – as well as the highest ever test positivity rate Tuesday – 30.25%.

“The increase in cases is severe, by far more than any other surge we’ve had,” said Gov. Beshear. “But the good news is, 75% of Kentuckians 18 and up have been vaccinated. I think that’s a pretty big deal. Three quarters of everyone in Kentucky who can make their own health care decisions have decided to get vaccinated. That is an overwhelming majority. Hopefully this encourages even more people to get that shot of hope.”

The state also reported 72,165 new COVID-19 cases the week ending Jan. 16, the highest week ever. This new record surpasses the second-highest week by nearly 20,000 cases (Jan. 3-9: 52,603 cases) and the third-highest week by nearly 40,000 cases (Aug. 30–Sept. 5: 30,680 cases).

The Governor also reported the state’s highest ever average weekly positivity rate, 29.33%, for the week ending Jan. 16. This is nearly 4 percentage points higher than the second highest week (Jan. 3-9: 25.84%); and 9 percentage points higher than the third highest week (Dec. 27–Jan. 2: 20.38%). The highest weekly positivity rate during the delta variant surge was 13.88% the week ending Sept. 12, 2021.