Gov. Andy Beshear announced 294 new COVID-19 cases and 11 new coronavirus-related deaths in Kentucky on Monday.

The state’s positivity rate dipped slightly to 2.93%. Kentucky has seen a drop in weekly COVID-19 cases for 10 consecutive weeks. 

Beshear attributed the decline to preventative measures taken in November. That month, the state released a list of temporary guidelines, such as avoiding public gatherings of any size, for the counties who were experiencing a high rate of COVID-19 infections.

“The longer we see decline in cases, the more people there are that aren’t dealing with COVID,” Beshear said.

As of March 22, 1,186,538 Kentuckians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Over 185,000 people were vaccinated for the first time between March 16 and March 22.

“These vaccines are getting out really fast,” Beshear said. “We want to get even better. If [the vaccines] get out this fast and we continue to see demand where it is, we may end up opening up a little earlier for some other age groups.”

Leo Bertucci can be reached at [email protected]  Follow him on Twitter @leober2chee.