LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After reaching its record high Jan. 9, Jefferson County continued to report a decreasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
In the weekly virtual town hall, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and local health leaders shared that Jefferson County is in the orange category for incidents.
Jefferson County reported 867 confirmed COVID-19 cases for the week of March 14, the lowest amount since the week of Sept. 19 last year.
As Louisville nears 1,000 deaths due to COVID-19 since last March, Fischer said it's a race between the variants and vaccines.
"The good news is we are starting to see a decline, but you can't forget the fact that we have lost all these folks," Fischer said. "We are at a point where we are looking pretty good, but the virus is fighting back."
Dr. Jon Klein, University of Louisville professor of medicine, attributed the decrease in confirmed cases to several preventive measures, along with the increase in vaccinations across Jefferson County.
"A number of things that we're doing are working," Klein said. "It isn't just the vaccine, it's also the masks, the distancing and also our willingness to avoid crowds."
Louisville has opened more vaccine sites in recent weeks. Cardinal Stadium is set to become the largest vaccination site in the state, with the ability to vaccinate 4,000 people a day.
In Jefferson County, 26.4% of residents have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 294,000 doses have been distributed in Jefferson County.
A total of 99,929 residents in Jefferson County have completed the vaccine series.
Last week, Klein said it's likely that any adult in Jefferson County will be able to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of April.
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