The Medical Center at Bowling Green reported Friday morning that it had 42 COVID-19 patients. That’s the lowest total since Aug. 13, when officials first said the hospital was operating at full capacity.

Med Center Health Executive Vice President Wade Stone said the number was down from 66 reported COVID-19 patients Sept. 24.

The drop from Sept. 24 is the highest weekly patient decrease at The Medical Center since the latest spike in cases first struck the region in late July.

“We are definitely moving in the right direction,” Stone said. “We are very encouraged by the number of COVID-19 patients going down. However, the most important thing from our perspective is for anyone who is unvaccinated to go and get the vaccine.”

Stone said of those 42 COVID patients, 81% were unvaccinated, 15 were in critical care and 14 were on a ventilator. One person in critical care was vaccinated, and one on a ventilator was vaccinated.

Of the 30 National Guard support staff members who have been assisting The Medical Center in non-clinical support capacities, 19 will stay to help the hospital through Oct. 13.

T.J. Regional Health Executive Vice President of Marketing Stacey Biggs said the Glasgow hospital had seen its third straight week of declining COVID-19 patients.

On Sept. 24., Biggs said the hospital had 31 COVID patients, but she said Friday that number was 25.

“It gives us a lot of hope to see that. It went down consistently every day this week,” Biggs said. “Critical care bed capacity is still very high along with our staff bed capacity. There are definite signs of hope, and things are looking up, but we aren’t out of the woods yet.”

Of those 25 patients, two are vaccinated, nine are in the ICU, eight are on a ventilator and one person in the ICU is vaccinated.

Biggs said a major concern is a potential spike after families return from fall break trips during the next few weeks.

She said the National Guard’s last day assisting the hospital was Thursday.

“We are so appreciative of their help over these past few weeks,” Biggs said. “It was a tremendous help to us during a very trying time.”

TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital continued to decline to provide updates.

The latest update from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Human Services on Friday showed all but eight counties in the state are marked red for having a “critical” COVID incidence rate.

Of the 10 counties in the Barren River region, only two had a vaccination rate of at least 50%: Simpson and Logan. Butler, Warren, Barren, Allen and Monroe counties all have a vaccination rate of at least 40%.

– Follow reporter John Reecer on Twitter @JReecerBGDN or visit bgdailynews.com.