KENTUCKY — Wednesday was another record-breaker for the Commonwealth as the state continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. State data shows 2,074 Kentuckians are hospitalized with the virus, which marks the fifth day in a row of new record-high hospitalizations.

In addition to having more Kentuckians in the hospital than at any point previously in the pandemic, the state's positivity rate reached a record high of 13.16% Wednesday. All 120 counties of Kentucky are now in red zone territory, meaning community transmission is greater than 25 per 100,000 population.

4,849 new COVID-19 infections were reported Wednesday, including over 1,500 in children. A whopping 65 deaths were included in Wednesday's report, 57 of which Gov. Andy Beshear said were recorded in August. 

"Our hospitals are overrun. We are seeing and will see significant death moving forward, but we can do something about it," Beshear said in a video statement. "Get vaccinated, wear a mask, avoid large indoor gatherings. Protect yourself. Protect your family. Do what it takes. All this is avoidable."

Intensive care unit capacity in five of the state’s 10 hospital regions was above 80%, adding to the grim picture health care workers painted at a press briefing Monday, where they spoke of the difficulty of dealing with the new surge in the midst of staffing shortages.

“If we had another disaster happen right now – even a small one – we don’t have any reserve left. So if we had a bus accident, an influenza outbreak or anything else, I’m not sure what we would do,” said Dr. William Melahn, chief medical officer at St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead.

Dr. Jason Smith, M.D., chief medical officer of UofL Health in Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city, also warned that the rapid increase in new ICU patients may limit the hospital system’s ability to also provide emergency medical services.

“We are seeing younger patients that are sicker,” Smith said. “They are filling up our hospital beds, backing up patients in the emergency department, and we are getting to the point where it us going to be hard to deliver emergency care to those who need it.”

Beshear also took an apparent jab at those refusing to get the jab – the COVID-19 vaccine, that is – by comparing Kentucky's situation to the fable of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

"I'm sure there are some that would say it's Nero's individual liberty to just fiddle while everything burns down, but I think he had a responsibility to do something to protect the people around him."

The latest numbers show 2,481,654 Kentuckians are vaccinated against the virus, which is around 56% of the state's population. Over 2,000 Kentuckians are hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday, with 549 in the ICU and 338 on ventilators.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.