FRANKFORT, Ky. — Officials in Kentucky announced that efforts to identify positive COVID-19 cases and contacts may have prevented the virus from spreading to roughly 54,000 Kentuckians.

Mark Carter, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services advisor who has spearheaded Kentucky's contact tracing efforts, estimates that quarantining and contact tracing have prevented more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 400 deaths.

Contact tracing, which identifies people who may have been in contact with a person infected with COVID-19, began in Kentucky last May.

Through Kentucky's process, about 167,000 people who tested COVID-positive successfully isolated, and nearly one-third of those people were contacted within 24 hours of a positive test result. About 57% of all Kentuckians who were potentially exposed successfully quarantined, Carter said.

Due to data limitations, Carter said Tuesday's figures are a conservative estimate. Carter explained that the reasons behind those limitations include decentralized public health systems, delayed adoption of contact tracing by local health departments, lack of surge support, underreported cases and contacts as well as politicization of contact tracing.

Carter said the state has added about 1,200 contact tracing staff over the last seven months, with 60 local health departments using the state's contact tracing system. With a $78 million budget from federal funds, these efforts have spent $47.7 million so far.

Virus positivity rate rising in Kentucky

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,781 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest Tuesday number in several weeks, as well as 23 virus-related deaths statewide. Tuesday's report included a 95-year-old woman from Kenton County.

Kentucky's COVID-19 positivity rate rose again to 11.36% Tuesday, up from 8.41% last week. Beshear attributed the "concerning" jump in virus positivity to more asymptomatic cases and cases spreading at Christmas gatherings, though it is still too early to tell if New Year's gatherings will have a similar effect.

Despite the surging positivity rate, the governor said Kentucky's K-12 schools should still be able to resume in-person classes on Monday, as long as they follow the executive order on capacity and accommodations for at-risk staff.

Since March, 280,836 COVID-19 cases and 2,772 virus-related deaths have been reported in Kentucky.

Hospitalizations increased Tuesday, with 1,760 Kentuckians currently hospitalized for COVID-19, 430 people in intensive care units and 215 on ventilators. The state's coronavirus fatality rate, the proportion of people who die out of people who test positive for the virus, sits at 0.98%.

Using the state's contact tracing database, NKY Health reports 2,788 active coronavirus cases in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties, and 21,506 people have recovered from the virus as of Tuesday. Since the pandemic began, 167 Northern Kentuckians have died from the virus.

Who's next in line for vaccines?

Kentucky expects to work through the end of January to finish vaccinating long-term care residents and staff as well as frontline health care workers in "Phase 1a." People age 70 and older, first responders and K-12 school personnel will be vaccinated next in "Phase 1b," and that could start by February.

The state announced the remaining vaccine phases Monday: Phase 1c includes anyone age 60 and older, anyone 16 and older with a high-risk medical condition, and all essential workers; Phase 2 includes anyone over age 40; Phase 3 includes anyone older than 16; Phase 4 includes children under 16, provided that the FDA approves a vaccine for children.

"I want to get this vaccine to all of you who want it as quickly as we can. I wish I could tell you it’s going to be tomorrow, but we’re going to make it happen," Beshear said Tuesday.

Kentucky was allocated about 202,000 COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna in December, with another 101,000 doses expected to arrive in the first two weeks of January.

As of Tuesday, Kentucky has administered about 66,500 first vaccine doses. To be fully vaccinated, patients must receive an initial dose followed by a booster dose weeks later.

Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said sites will be asked to administer 90% of all vaccines received within seven days of arrival, and to vaccinate "more than half of every interested Kentuckian" by June. To do this, Kentucky will allow vaccination sites to give shots to patients in lower tiers if those sites have no upper-tier vaccinations scheduled.

Health officials are still working on vaccination site plans, locations and an appointment scheduling system, Stack said.

Watch a replay of the briefing in the player below:

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The rate of positive coronavirus tests dropped Friday in Kentucky to its lowest point in more than a month, Gov. Andy Beshear announced.

The positivity rate was 8.16%, the lowest since Dec. 28, Beshear said in a news release. The figure was below 9% for the eighth straight day.

Beshear reported 2,261 new cases and 50 deaths. A total of 3,971 people have died from the virus in Kentucky since the pandemic began.

With the Super Bowl approaching on Sunday, Beshear urged people to keep gatherings small and safe.

“No matter who you’re rooting for on Sunday, let’s make sure we hold on to our progress against this virus as Team Kentucky,” he said. “We’ve already vaccinated 10% of our population and every day we get closer to the finish line we’ve all been waiting for. Hang in there and do what it takes to protect each other a little bit longer.”

Kentucky’s COVID-19 test positivity rate has risen to almost 3.1% after declining steadily for several days, Gov. Andy Beshear reported Friday.

This development comes after the Democratic governor urged Kentuckians to continue to follow public health guidelines that slow the spread of the virus, even as vaccines become more widely available.

“This thing is still dangerous. It’s still killing people, and it still is going to continue to kill people until we stop it,” Beshear said Monday at a virtual press briefing. “If we want to avoid another rise in cases here in Kentucky, and we can do that, we’ve just got to keep it up.”

The test positivity rate is an indicator of the extent of the spread of the virus. If the rate is less than 5% for two weeks and testing is widespread, the virus is considered under control, according to the World Health Organization.

Kentucky reported 690 confirmed coronavirus cases and three virus-related deaths Friday. Some 393 Kentuckians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

Starting Monday, residents 16 and older will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccine. The state’s vaccination program is currently in phase 1C, which includes people 40 and older, anyone older than 16 with high-risk medical conditions and anyone deemed an essential worker.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal. The vast majority of people recover.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear announced Friday that Kentucky businesses, venues and events can return to full capacity starting June 11.

The state's mask mandate will also be lifted on that day, except in "places where people are most vulnerable," Beshear said. Those restrictions will lift in exactly one month to give children ages 12 to 15 the chance to get the recently authorized Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Before that on May 28, businesses and venues can increase capacity to 75%, and that also applies to all events regardless of the number of attendees. Kentucky's midnight last call for bars and restaurants will end that day.

So far, Kentucky has vaccinated nearly 1.9 million people against COVID-19, or about 43% of the state's population.

Starting now, Kentucky's mask mandate is also changing following new CDC guidance Thursday. Fully vaccinated people can now go maskless in most indoor settings without large crowds, but masks are still required in hospitals and nursing homes. Kentucky's mandate, which requires masks in all public settings, will immediately change to fit the new guidance, Beshear said in a video update Thursday.

Team Kentucky

Since March 2020, 451,213 Kentuckians have tested positive for COVID-19 and 6,637 have died of the virus. Currently, 411 Kentuckians are hospitalized for COVID-19, with 117 people in intensive care units and 47 on ventilators.

The state's test positivity rate, one of the key indicators of virus spread, is 3.08%.

NKY Health reports 399 active coronavirus cases in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties, and 41,635 people have recovered from the virus Friday. Since the pandemic began, 455 Northern Kentuckians have died from the virus. Track the spread on Kentucky's COVID-19 incidence rate map.

Watch a replay of the briefing in the player below: