Lexington reports 116 new COVID-19 cases. City warns residents to ‘take action’
Lexington broke its one-day record for COVID-19 cases again as it reported 116 new cases on Tuesday.
The number of cases reported in the last two weeks has matched the total number of cases reported in all of June, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. Total cases are now at 2,972, according to health department data.
Each of the five days with the most new Lexington cases occurred since July 10, according to health department data.
“Unless we all take action to protect ourselves and loved ones, Lexington will likely continue to have more cases, leading to potential limitations in the capacity of our healthcare delivery system to take care of our sickest patients,” health department spokesman Kevin Hall said in a statement.
Lexington has 2,185 hospital beds, 367 ICU beds and 1,932 staffed beds, according to the state. There have been 276 COVID-19 hospitalizations since the outbreak began, according to local health department data.
Lexington has had 1,419 new infections in July, which is 600 more than the city had in all of June. The state’s positivity rate has more than doubled in July compared to June. The Lexington health department said it doesn’t track the local positivity rate because test administrators are not required to report the total number of tests done. The state’s positivity rate removes testing sites that don’t report the total number of tests done.
There were six new confirmed cases in children under 5 years old reported Tuesday, according to health department data. The 20-24 age group had 15 new cases — the most of any group — compared to Monday’s tally.
There were no new deaths reported Tuesday. Hospitalizations increased by five and recoveries increased by 70, according to health department data. The health department judges recoveries based on the amount of time passed after a resident contracts the virus and the reduction of symptoms, methods recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instead of negative test results.
Lexington is continuing its mobile testing program this week at Consolidated Baptist Church at 1625 Russell Cave Road. The testing site will be open from from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, 12 to 8 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The tests are free and no appointment is required. Insurance information may be requested, but it is not required, according to the city.
There have been 4,200 tests administered through the mobile testing program, according to city government spokeswoman Susan Straub.
Drive-through testing is also available at Southland Christian Church pm Richmond Road from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. No appointment is required.
The Walgreen’s on Executive Drive is conducting drive-through tests by appointment, which can be scheduled online.
The Kroger testing site at Bluegrass Community and Technical College’s Newtown Campus is open through Friday. Appointments for a drive-through test at that location can also be made online.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 9:28 AM.