In May there were 213 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Green River Health District of Kentucky, with 38 in Henderson County and 120 in Daviess County. Of the 16 deaths — seven were in Daviess County, three were in Henderson County.
This means there’s still an average of nearly seven new cases every day, in the Green River Health District (GRHD).
Merritt Bates-Thomas, Public Information Officer and Health Education Director with the district, said this doesn’t include asymptomatic people or those who’ve tested from home.
“While that may seem like a very small number, COVID does continue to circulate throughout the area throughout the country,” she said. “And it's important we remember that, and that we just continue to use good judgment around our practices and things that we learned throughout the pandemic.”
This means washing hands, staying home if you’re sick and wearing a mask if you’re COVID positive, or recently exposed.
“Certainly wearing a mask is perfectly permissible to do at any time covering coughs and sneezes,” Bates Thomas said. “Again, that goes back to hand washing. Those habits by covering our coughs and sneezes that never goes out of style.”
Bates-Thomas said the health department is also still urging vaccines and boosters.
She said her data on COVID deaths do not include the co-morbidities — the exacerbating factors that contribute to a person’s illness.
“I think that's probably one of the most staggering things that we hear and that I see every month, is that people are continuing to die from the virus.”
Bates-Thomas said of the 213 new confirmed COVID cases in May, 38 were in Henderson County and 120 in Daviess County.
Of the 16 deaths, seven were in Daviess County, three were in Henderson County.
Calculating Community Spread
The health department is transitioning from the pandemic model of reporting COVID numbers — the Public Health Emergency (PHE) paradigm, to a sustainable reporting model.
This is part of an overall national trend to shift COVID to be surveilled like other serious illnesses.
Here is a CDC paper on the matter
According to the same news release, COVID-19 Community Levels (CCLs) are “no longer being calculated due to the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023.”
The GRHD is shifting reporting methods for COVID data — from the PHE model to a sustainable reporting model for severe community illness, which is still evolving.
Clay Horton is Public Health Director with GRHD.
He said the end of the PHE could mean limits in what the CDC can learn about the virus’ current impact at the county level. “Currently, COVID-19 is still listed as a 'reportable condition' in Kentucky's regulation, so we still have some access to case reporting data,” he said via email statement. “But that may change when that regulation is up for review and revision.”
He said the CDC is focusing on different data sets, such as hospitalizations and emergency room visits as a main “focus of measure.”
Monitoring wastewater for signs of COVID will still be a focus.