COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky

COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky
Members of the Kentucky National Guard assist in providing medical supplies
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Kentucky, U.S.
Index case	Lexington
Arrival date	March 6, 2020
Confirmed cases	227,218
Suspected cases‡	4,494
Hospitalized cases	1,788 (current) 4,652 (cumulative)
Critical cases	138 (current) 1,396 (cumulative)
Recovered	32,234
Deaths	7,517
Government website
govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19
‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out.

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky on March 6, 2020, when Governor Andy Beshear's office announced the first confirmed case in Cynthiana, Kentucky, and declared a state of emergency to ensure all entities had the necessary response resources. As of January 1, 2023, 1,667,275 cumulative cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, with 17,694 deaths.^[1]

The Kentucky government announced a series of restrictions and recommendations in order to help curb the spread of the disease. Schools, universities, and a range of businesses were broadly closed to the public. Public sporting events were closed or postponed, including the 2020 Kentucky Derby.

A range of initiatives was put into place, many by executive order, including broader leeway for pharmacists, relaxing of standards for unemployment insurance, extensions of Kentucky driver licenses, the curtailing of non-essential police services in some areas, and moratoriums on evictions and utility shut-offs.^[2]

As of January 1, 2023^[update], 2,998,106 Kentuckians had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, equivalent to 67% of the population.^[3]