session to address the rapid rise in cases there. miguel markez is in kentucky this morning. put this in perspective for us. how bad is the covid situation there? >> reporter: it's bad. it is as bad as its ever been. it is worse than it's ever been. cases are up, higher than in the winter time. hospitalizations are climbing rapidly. deaths are starting to climb as well. and that is -- that's the same old song that we've seep for so long. that the cases go up, the hospitalizations rise and then the deaths follow a short time after that. they're having a very difficult time getting ahold of this even though kentucky falls in the middle of vaccinations. it is about the total population, about 50% of the population here is vaccinated. so they're doing okay compared to other states. but that delta variant is just so contagious. it is making people very, very sick. we are in morehead kentucky at