84 new COVID-19 cases reported in Lexington. Infection curve ‘still going up.’
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department reported 84 new COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the city’s total to 3,726 cases.
Lexington’s COVID-19 curve “is still going up,” Health Commissioner Dr. Kraig Humbaugh said Thursday. There have been 471 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the first six days of August, according to data from the health department.
Friday marks the third consecutive day with a decrease in new cases compared to the previous day, but 84 is still the sixth-most cases in a single day, according to health department data. All of the top five increases have come since July 23, and two of them have been this week.
No new deaths were reported Friday. There were three new hospitalizations, bringing the total since March to 317.
The health department reports a day’s case totals the following morning six out of seven times a week.
Lexington’s COVID-19 numbers has begun to include University of Kentucky students since UK has started reporting results from its mandatory testing for students returning to campus. Twelve students tested positive out of the 1,600 tests on the first day.
But health department officials said Friday that they have 19 confirmed positives from UK’s testing which are being counted in Lexington’s numbers. Not every student who tests positive will be added to Lexington’s numbers, according to the health department. It will depend on where the students isolate if they’ve tested positive, Humbaugh said.
If they live outside Fayette County and isolate at their homes, they won’t be added to Lexington’s numbers. If they isolate within the county, they will be added.
UK officials said their data is being reported to local and state health departments. Humbaugh said UK is going to handle the initial steps of the process by administering the test, getting the results, contacting the student and doing contact tracing. The case is handed off to the health department if the student is quarantining in Fayette County, Humbaugh said.
If a student tests positive and isolates elsewhere in Kentucky, the case will be handed off to that county’s health department. If the student lives in another state, the case will be handed off to the Kentucky Department of Public Health, which will notify the state in which the student lives, Humbaugh said.
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 9:29 AM.