COVID-19-related hospitalizations hit a new record high Wednesday and use of intensive care beds is at the highest level in five months — though ample hospital capacity remains.

The state announced 1,319 cases Friday, the second-highest since the start of the crisis.

“We are not sitting at a plateau … but a third escalation,” the governor said Monday afternoon.

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 930 new infections on Friday, the second-highest for a Friday since the pandemic began. 

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 796 new cases on Wednesday, pushing the four-day total to 2,465, or one below the record for a Sunday-Wednesday period.

Heading into the end of the year, some researchers expect a jump in the COVID-19 death rate.

But the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation also said that more than 67,000 of those people could be saved with universal masking.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, at the University of Washington, projects that America’s death toll by Oct. 1 will reach 201,129, up from its prior projection of 169,890.