Lexington reports 49 new cases of COVID-19. New hospitalizations near 100 this month
Lexington reported 49 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the city’s total case count to 3,075. Hospitalizations increased by five, bringing the city’s total since March to 285.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 34 people currently in the hospital for COVID-19, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.
The combined number of cases over the last two days (103) is less than the single-day total reported Tuesday morning (116).
Nevertheless, Lexington’s new cases in July are more than the new cases reported in June, May and April combined, according to data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. There have been 92 new hospitalizations this month, an increase of about 23 percent compared to last month.
Each of Lexington’s top 15 single-day case increases has occurred in July, according to health department data. The city has eclipsed 100 cases in a single day twice this month: July 23 (100) and July 27 (116). All of the top five single-day increases have come since July 9, according to health department data.
Total cases have surged in Lexington’s younger population, but older Lexington residents are the ones falling victim to hospitalizations and deaths. Forty-five percent of all cases occurred in people 34 or younger, but nearly 70 percent of all hospitalizations and 93 percent of all deaths have been people 55 or older.
The impact of the virus is also being felt more by Lexington’s minority communities. Black Lexington residents account for about 20 percent of the city’s cases and about one-third of hospitalizations, despite making up about less than 15 percent of the population. Over a quarter of the infections occurred in Hispanic residents, but they make up an estimated 7 percent of the city’s population.
There were 619 new cases reported statewide Wednesday. Gov. Andy Beshear said it was a number that indicates the state may be stabilizing. Beshear has recently imposed a mask mandate, limited personal social gatherings to 10 people. ordered bars to close and limited restaurant capacity to 25 percent statewide in an effort to slow the spread.
He said Wednesday that someone from a Lexington bar sent him a “thoughtful email” about “wanting to do the right things moving forward, and even trying to do the right things as the conditions existed on the ground.”
Beshear criticized two Lexington bars on Monday, showing photos of their patrons not following guidelines put in place. The owners said they’d made efforts to enforce the policies.
“I didn’t know whose pictures we were showing, or where they were,” Beshear said Wednesday.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 9:18 AM.