FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kentucky has confirmed its first case of the omicron variant.

According to Gov. Andy Beshear, the variant has now been detected in Kenton, Campbell, Fayette and Jefferson Counties.

Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Health, says the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (plus booster) should be very effective against omicron. 17% of Kentuckians are now fully vaccinated and boosted; 62% are fully vaccinated.

The news comes as the latest Kentucky COVID-19 report shows the fourth straight day of 2,000 or more new cases.

2,582 new cases were reported Friday; 35 more Kentuckians have died from the virus, and the positivity rate is the highest it's been in a week at 8.94%.

This is a developing story.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Starting next week, Kentucky will have 291 COVID-19 vaccination sites open statewide at regional hubs, non-regional sites, health departments, and Kroger and Walmart sites, plus Walgreens and independent pharmacies.

Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday announced three new vaccination sites that will open in Northern Kentucky next week:

You can find a full list of vaccination sites on this interactive map.

Kentucky is currently in vaccine phase 1B, focusing on people age 70 and older, first responders, K-12 school staff and childcare providers.

Nearly 556,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Kentucky since December.

Some nursing home visitation restrictions relaxed

Kentucky will allow indoor visitation to resume for non-Medicare certified long-term care facilities -- including assisted living, personal care, intermediate care for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and independent living -- for those who have been fully vaccinated.

Visitors must test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of the scheduled visit. These visits will be limited to one individual, or two if they are from the same household.

Group activities, communal dining and visitation among long-term care facility residents will also resume for vaccinated individuals in non-certified care. First doses have been offered to all residents and staff at Kentucky’s long-term care facilities, and more than 83,000 have received at least one dose.

“What this means, is once someone is better protected from this disease, we want them to be able to see their loved ones,” Beshear said.

The new visitation protocols start Saturday.

The loosening of visitation restrictions does not apply to Medicare certified long-term care facilities, Beshear said. Kentucky still needs approval and guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) before relaxing restrictions for certified facilities.

COVID-19 cases continue decline

Beshear reported 963 new cases of COVID-19, the lowest daily case count since October. The governor also reported 37 deaths, including a 101-year-old woman from Kenton County.

Since March, 392,729 Kentuckians have tested positive for COVID-19 and 4,373 have died of the virus. The state's test positivity rate rose to 7.07%, and new COVID-19 cases have declined for five straight weeks.

Hospitalizations have been on the decline for several weeks. Currently, 935 Kentuckians are hospitalized for COVID-19, with 260 people in intensive care units and 130 on ventilators. Kentucky's coronavirus fatality rate has risen to 1.10%.

Using the state's contact tracing database, NKY Health reports 2,003 active coronavirus cases in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties, and 35,179 people have recovered from the virus as of Thursday. Since the pandemic began, 247 Northern Kentuckians have died from the virus.

As of Monday, there are also four confirmed cases of a more contagious variant of COVID-19 in Kentucky, four in Northern Kentucky and one in Jefferson County. The first two cases, both out of Kenton County, were first reported Jan. 26.

Watch a replay of the briefing in the player below:

FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Most of Kentucky's counties have high transmission levels of COVID-19, according to state data.

The state reported 1,052 new cases on Monday. Five more people have died from the virus, bringing the total number of those who died from COVID-19 in the state to 7,348.

796 Kentuckians are in the hospital from COVID-19, 250 are in the ICU, and 98 are on a ventilator. The state's current positivity rate is 9.77%.

Gov. Beshear says Kentucky has had the most cases of COVID-19 since February – before the vaccines were readily available to most of the public. The governor says he is not looking at rolling back capacity limits. He also reiterated he is not considering any mask mandates at this time.

"We are not taking the potential for a mask mandate off the table, but the circumstances are very different," said Gov. Beshear, citing the vaccines that are readily available to the public.

The governor said that decision would possibly come if they're seeing transmission among vaccinated individuals as well as hospitalization rates in order to consider that.

During Monday's briefing, state officials announced new testing and masking guidance for some long-term care facilities and veterans' care facilities. Masks will be required. Anyone unvaccinated will have to be tested at least twice a week.

The governor also urged people to get vaccinated if they haven't yet to slow the spread.

"We've got to stop with the silliness," said Gov. Beshear. "Again, COVID doesn't care about Red or Blue, Democrat or Republican, urban or rural. It doesn't care about your age ... It just wants to kill as many of us as possible."

2,319,625 Kentuckians have been vaccinated, a 22,663 increase since Friday.