LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Signs are beginning to point toward the possibility of new COVID-19 cases reaching a peak in Louisville.
In an update Tuesday, Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Moyer said she is hopeful the city is "at the peak of this Delta surge."
For the first time since mid-June, case counts decreased week-to-week in the latest COVID data release by the city. There were approximately 3,900 new cases in Louisville for the week of Aug. 28. That decreased to 3,500 new cases for the week ending on Sept. 4.
"Our case counts have stopped that doubling every week and are starting to level off and trend down," Moyer said. "We know that hospitalizations will hopefully follow."
Hospitalizations are still on the rise, however. On Aug. 28, there were 317 COVID-19 positive patients in Louisville hospitals. As of Wednesday, there were 380.
State officials are less confident about the potential of reaching a peak.
"If you'll look, the Delta variant, the rate of increase is the smallest we've had," Gov. Andy Beshear said. "It's too early to say the increase is slowing down, too early to say we've had a peak."
More than 2,300 new cases were registered in the commonwealth on Tuesday. That's down significantly from 5,111, but Beshear said that's likely due to the Labor Day holiday.
"Expect for folks to catch up this week," Beshear said. "I'm concerned we'll have a high number of cases and deaths."
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations at the University of Washington has been one of the most reliable projection models of COVID-19. Currently, the model projects hospitalizations and deaths continuing to rise for the next three weeks before falling. However, it has case counts decreasing into December.
"We continue to see more cases than is safe by any means," Beshear said.
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