The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Kentucky was reported on March 6th in Harrison County.  At that moment, Kentucky became part of the global health pandemic from the new coronavirus.  As cases increased exponentially worldwide, early information about the virus was limited.  Despite this, it was clear that certain groups were at increased risk for severe illness and that these groups were not evenly distributed across the state.

In response, with Dr. Amy Kotelic in Family and Consumer Sciences and Cameron McAlister, we developed the “COVID-19 At Risk” issue of the Kentucky: By The Numbers data series which provided each county in the state with data on groups who are at higher risk of experiencing severe illness including older adults, people of any age who have underlying medical conditions, and race/ethnicity distributions of each county’s population.  A separate issue with state-level data was also created and since county level data were not available for every underlying condition, the reverse side provided a summary of the CDC’s guidance regarding people at higher risk for severe illness.   

After releasing the “COVID-19 At Risk” issue of Kentucky: By The Numbers, I presented the results and analysis of the data in an inservice webinar which was attended by 90 Extension agents from all across the state.  In addition to the Kentucky: By The Numbers website, access to the data was also placed on the College’s Coronavirus webpage under Community Resources as well as the internal Extension Coronavirus Resources website under Community and Economic Development.  These data have been used locally across the state and in at least one instance, a local newspaper published the county’s data in its entirety.