Bell County reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the lowest number of new cases in a day since Aug. 15.

According to the Bell County Health Department, as of Monday Bell County has recorded 4,449 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. There were 815 active cases in Bell County, with 23 individuals hospitalized in the county due to the virus. Of the 23 hospitalized, none were vaccinated and ranged in age from 23 to 88 years of age. There have been 53 COVID-19 related deaths in Bell County.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced the highest number of new cases ever reported on a Monday, 2,619, during his COVID-19 update on Monday. He also announced there were 4,050 new cases on Saturday and 3,249 new cases on Sunday. There were 56 new COVID-19 deaths over the three-day period from Saturday to Monday. A record 2,198 Kentuckians were hospitalized due to the virus as of Monday.

“We continue to be hit harder and harder with this delta variant. We’re seeing it all across the United States, now reaching a daily average of more than 100,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations for the first time since the winter peak,” Beshear said. “This isn’t just people getting COVID; it’s them being sick enough to end up in the hospital.”

According to the state’s website at https://kentucky.gov, along with the record number of hospitalizations Kentucky is also seeing a record number of people in ICU and on ventilators due to COVID-19. There were 615 people in ICU and 384 individuals on a ventilator as of Monday.

The state’s positivity rate was 13.45 percent on Monday.

The Bell County Health Department recommends the following steps to help slow the spread of Covid 19:
• Wash hand with soap and water before eating, after blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing, or after using the restroom;

• Avoid contact with people who are sick;

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth;

• Wear a mask when in public and social distancing is difficult.