Although there was more movement in the number of cases of COVID-19 among Clinton County residents in the past week than has been seen in the past several weeks, there were several signs that we are slowly heading out of the pandemic that has changed lifestyles for nearly a year and a half.

Governor Andy Beshear lifted most of the COVID-19 restrictions that remained in place last Friday, saying he was able to do so as a direct result of the efforts of Kentuckians to follow social distancing, mask mandates and eventually getting vaccinated against the disease since early 2020.

During his last regular COVID-19 briefing last Friday, Beshear signed an executive order ending the statewide mask mandate for most settings as well as capacity limits for most businesses and venues.

However, Beshear noted that while he felt the pandemic was over, he stressed that the battle against the disease was not yet over.

“Let me be clear, Covid-19 remains deadly. Our war against it is not yet won,” Beshear said Friday. “But after more than 15 months of struggle and of sacrifice, we can also say this: While Covid remains a threat, we are no longer in crisis.”

Friday’s order noted that masks were still required in some settings, including health-care settings and long-term care facilities.

He also noted that any business that wishes to continue to require that masks still be worn, can do so.

He praised Kentuckians for their efforts to do their part in battling the pandemic situation in Kentucky since it began here in March, 2020.

“We know that our actions saved thousands, likely tens of thousands, of lives,” he said. Later, asked what he might have done differently, he said, “I think we’ve done more things right than most states.”

Another sign that the pandemic is coming to a close was the decision last Friday that going forward, COVID-19 reports given by the Lake Cumberland District Health Department would no longer come on a daily basis, but would instead be released on a weekly basis.

Those reports will now be put out either on Friday or sometime during each weekend, but will contain the same case data as the daily reports did, just in a seven day format instead.

In the past week, as of last Friday, there was more movement in Clinton County case numbers than had been seen in several weeks, with two new cases being added during that period.

One new case was added to the Clinton County total on Wednesday of last week, with a second case being added on Thursday.

On Friday, one of those two cases was released as being no longer contagious, leaving one active case within the Clinton County population.

That most recent COVID-19 case activity moved the total number of cases in Clinton County since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,433 cases.

To date, Clinton County has seen 32 deaths from it’s population as a direct result of the COVID-19 disease.

As of Friday’s report, there were 69 total cases across the 10 county LCDHD district, with Pulaski having the highest number of cases with 19.

Also as of Friday, the number of hospitalized cases across the district continued to fall as well, with six currently being treated in area hospitals, compared with nine a week prior.

Vaccination appointments through The Med Center at Albany are available, and those vaccines are now being given on site at the local hospital.

Appointments for getting the vaccine are still available, and may be obtained by texting SHOT to 606-387-3646 or by emailing AlbanyVaccine@mchealth.net, or by calling 606-387-3646 and leaving a message.

Vaccines are also now available again at the Clinton County Health Department, as was confirmed to the Clinton County News last week by LCDHD spokesperson Amy Tomlinson.

Vaccination appointments through the Clinton County Health Department, or more information about the vaccines being offered and vaccination dates and times, may be obtained by calling 606-387-5711.

In addition to Clinton County’s single active case of COVID-19, total case counts for the remaining counties, and the number of patients being treated in area hospitals in parentheses, if any, were: Adair 3, Casey 9 (1), Cumberland 2, Green 5, McCreary 4 (1), Pulaski 19 (3), Russell 5, Taylor 18 (1), Wayne 3.

To date, there have been 22,627 total cases in the 10 county LCDHD area, and 454 of those patients have died.