Lexington reports 105 new COVID-19 cases, city’s 2nd-highest spike
Lexington reported 105 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday morning, the city’s second-largest one day increase since the pandemic started in March.
It’s the third time that Lexington has reported 100-plus new cases in a single day, all of which have come in the last two weeks. There were 116 new infections reported on July 27 and 100 new cases on July 23. There have been 3,552 total cases.
There were no new deaths, keeping the city’s total fatalities at 46. There were four new hospitalizations, bringing the total since March to 309.
Health department spokesman Kevin Hall said Tuesday the spread was still “rapid” despite a lower case count reported that morning. Lexington has seen single-day increases as high as 116 and as little as 31 in the last two weeks.
Deaths have steadily declined in recent weeks. Lexington had eight from July 13-19, which was a one-week record. The following week had four, and last week had just one, according to health department data.
Lexington’s minority populations continue to be infected at a disproportionate rate. Black Lexington residents make up more than 20 percent of all cases, more than 30 percent of all hospitalizations and 28 percent of all deaths despite making up only about 14 percent of the population.
Hispanics make up 28 percent of all cases, 15 percent of all hospitalizations and 15 percent of all deaths despite only being about 7 percent of Lexington’s population.
The Bluegrass Community and Technical College testing site closed at the end of July, initially leaving Lexington residents with fewer testing options. It was being run by Kroger until the company’s testing partnership with the state expired. The city has made Consolidated Baptist Church a long-term testing site to fill in some gaps. Consolidated Baptist was previously hosting the mobile testing program.
The mobile testing program will continue, with the next location to be announced soon, city officials said Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 9:14 AM.