These Lexington businesses have had COVID-19 spikes since reopenings started
More workers at Keeneland have tested positive for COVID-19 than at any other business in Lexington since reopenings began about May 9, according to data obtained in an open records request.
But the vast majority of those workers have already recovered, Keeneland says.
Keeneland has had 27 workers who are Lexington residents test positive, according to the data provided by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. That’s 12 more than any other business in the city. As of Friday morning, the city had reported 1,214 total cases and 21 deaths.
Most of the 27 work at Keeneland but not for Keeneland, according to Vince Gabbert, chief operating officer of Keeneland. All but one of the positive cases have been backside employees. They work for people who have horses stabled at Keeneland, he said. All but two of those 27 cases have been cleared to return to work by the health department, he said.
Gabbert said Keeneland has a strict protocol that forces anyone who tests positive to quarantine off site. They can’t return to work until they’ve been cleared by the health department, he said. Keeneland has done more than 1,000 tests, he said.
“The good news is, from a protocol standpoint, this is pretty much what we had in place from the outset,” Gabbert said. “We’ve followed those to a T, and those protocols seem to be working.”
Keeneland is currently scheduled to host a summer meet from July 8 to July 11. Under current safety protocols, fans won’t be allowed to attend. The spring meet, which was supposed to start April 2, was canceled because of COVID-19.
Gabbert said that when racing returns in July, protocols that have been approved by the governor’s office and the health department will continue to be “strictly enforced.”
Racetracks in Kentucky were permitted to open on May 11, but could only allow limited numbers of people inside. Fans and guests of employees were all barred from the facilities in Gov. Andy Beshear’s order. Among other regulations, normal procedures also had to be time staggered to prevent employees from congregating.
Besides Keeneland, Homestead Post Acute nursing home has had 15 employees test positive for COVID-19 since May 9. As of Monday, three residents had died from COVID-19. There were 33 total reported cases among residents as of Thursday. Nursing homes have been hit especially hard by the pandemic.
The University of Kentucky has had 14 employees test positive since May 9.
Clay Ingels, a building materials supplier, is the only other business with more than 10 cases — 12 of its employees have tested positive.
The data obtained in the records request includes employees, independent contractors and undefined contract workers, the health department said. The data is based on case or patient interviews, the health department said, and those who contracted coronavirus didn’t necessarily get sick at work. Some of the employees work at schools that have been closed since before May 9.
Other businesses or employers with five or more cases since May 9 include:
- Super Mercado Acquascalientes - 9
- Fayette County Public Schools - 7 (despite being closed)
- Gall’s - 7
- Commonwealth Baptist College - 6
- Federal Medical Center - 6
- Amazon - 5
- Baptist Health - 5
- Walmart (New Circle Road) - 5
Some of those sites with infections since the state began reopenings in May also had prior histories of COVID-19 cases.
Homestead Post Acute is is one of three long-term care facilities that has had 10 or more cases among residents and staff combined since Kentucky’s first case was announced in early March, according to the health department data. Pine Meadows has had seven cases among residents and five among staff. The Lexington Federal Medical Center has had 281 positive inmates and 10 positive staff members since the pandemic started.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 2:37 PM.