Lexington reports 49 new COVID-19 cases, surpassing 4,000 total. More jail inmates test positive.
Lexington reported 49 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday morning, bringing the city’s total to 4,044 since the pandemic started.
Cases have been increasing more rapidly since mid-July. It took 95 days for Lexington to reach 1,000 reported cases, according to data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. The city hit 2,000 cases just 31 days later on July 13. The 3,000 case mark was hit 16 days after that on July 28, and the 4,000 case mark came just 13 days later.
But the 49 new cases are the second-fewest this month. There were 47 new cases on Aug. 3.
Health department spokesman Kevin Hall said “it’s possible” the computer glitch which caused artificially low case numbers statewide on Monday also affected Lexington’s numbers.
“There is shared software among the labs doing the reporting,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see from the state.”
Gov. Andy Beshear said Kentucky residents shouldn’t put much stock into Monday’s 275 new cases because of the glitch. On Tuesday night, Beshear released new updated statewide totals with 562 new cases and eight new deaths.
The Lexington health department asked residents Monday to slow the spread of the virus by wearing masks, washing hands and “avoiding close contact with anyone not in your household.”
Some of the city’s new infections are tied to students returning to the University of Kentucky. UK students who test positive for COVID-19 and then quarantine in Lexington are wrapped into the city’s case count, according to Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, health commissioner for Lexington.
As a result of the University of Kentucky’s restart testing plan, 137 students have been included in Lexington’s COVID-19 case numbers, according to the health department. That’s an increase of seven from Monday’s report. Only students who quarantine in Lexington after testing positive are counted in Lexington’s cases, so it’s likely that more than 137 students have tested positive.
Cases have also increased at the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center. After identifying the jail’s first case among inmates on Aug. 3, Community Corrections has since confirmed 60 cases among inmates, according to the health department.
A case of coronavirus was confirmed among inmates in a second housing unit on Monday, according to a news release issued by the jail Tuesday afternoon. That inmate has been isolated, while the other inmates in the housing unit have been tested for COVID-19 and are being quarantined.
The jail said 227 inmates have been tested so far, and aside from the 60 positive cases, 79 inmates have tested negative. Results are pending for 88 others.
The jail said five staff members have tested positive as of Tuesday afternoon, and results are pending for 30 others. Seventeen staff members have tested negative.
The city reported no new deaths Tuesday and nine new hospitalizations. There have been 47 deaths and 338 hospitalizations since March, according to health department data. There were also 107 new recoveries reported Tuesday. Lexington’s recovery rate is now 78 percent.
Because of a statewide increase in cases among children — also occurring in Lexington — Beshear recommended on Monday that K-12 schools suspend in-person classes until at least Sept. 28 There have been 125 confirmed cases in children under 5 years old in Lexington, according to health department data, and about one-quarter of those cases have been reported in the last two weeks.
But the largest number of cases continues to occur in the 25-to-34 age range. There were 819 cases confirmed in that age range as of Tuesday morning, according to health department data.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 9:15 AM.