206 covid-19 cases reported in one day

County faces highest infection rate yet as omicron variant continues to spread

The highest covid-19 infection rates in the pandemic so far were seen this past week, driving up active case numbers and causing staffing shortages in the school district.

The Muhlenberg County Health Department reported 206 cases in a single day on Jan. 22 and a total of 842 new cases in the week between Jan. 18 and Jan. 24. The county has seen 1,998 new cases in January so far.

The widespread infections are creating staffing issues for Muhlenberg County Public Schools. With a few days of bad weather joining the mix, district officials took the opportunity to move classes online for three of the four school days last week.

Coupled with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, Superintendent Robby Davis said he hoped the days of Non-Traditional Instruction, or NTI, would help the district return to in-person classes this week. School was back in session on Jan. 24.

At a meeting of the Muhlenberg County Board of Education on Jan. 20, Davis told board members the district has already used five of the 10 allotted NTI days for the school year. There are still 10 days the district can use to make targeted closings of certain grades, classrooms or schools.

At the board meeting, district officials announced 203 students were out of school with positive cases and 436 were in quarantine. There were also 39 staff members out with positive cases and another 30 staff members in quarantine.

The school board voted to maintain mask mandates until they can review the infection rate numbers at the next board meeting in February.

At Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital, department directors are working on the frontline as needed to support the delivery of direct patient care. With the increase in community spread of the covid-19 virus, hospital spokesperson Jessica Browning said the staff has been affected. Team members are supportive of changes in their scheduled shift to cover for those who must be off work to follow quarantine or isolation protocols, she said.

Kentucky Department for Public Health has reported four deaths attributed to the covid-19 virus in January. The total number of deaths in Muhlenberg County since the beginning of the pandemic is now 105.

Kentucky health officials reported 16,103 new cases on Jan. 21 after a string of days topping five-digit numbers. A quarter of the cases are in people under the age of 18. Nearly one in three Kentuckians are testing positive for the virus.

Hospitals in the region are reporting 85.9 percent of their intensive care units are at capacity, with 55 percent of their inpatient space being used.