Lexington reports 80 new COVID-19 cases. Nursing home has 19th death.
Lexington reported 80 new COVID-19 cases and one new death Thursday morning, bringing the city’s total confirmed cases to 4,186.
The death was a Pine Meadows nursing home resident in their 80s, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department spokesman Kevin Hall said. It’s Pine Meadows’ 19th coronavirus-related death, the most among Fayette County nursing homes, according to state data. In total, 29 Fayette County nursing home residents have died of COVID-19, according to state data.
The death was the second in as many days for Lexington. Prior to Wednesday, the city hadn’t reported a new COVID-19 death in a week. There have been 49 deaths since the pandemic first reached Lexington in March.
The city also reported 65 new recoveries and one new hospitalization. It’s the second day in a row in which just one new hospitalization was reported. There have been 340 total hospitalizations, and 3,314 total recoveries, according to health department data. Lexington’s recovery rate is 79 percent.
After a single-day record of 1,163 cases Wednesday, new cases statewide numbered 785 Thursday, according to Gov. Andy Beshear. Wednesday’s spike was caused in part by a computer glitch and backlog that hadn’t reflected some infections in previous days’ totals.
In Lexington, no new Fayette County Detention Center inmate cases were in Thursday morning’s totals, but the jail late Thursday reported infections had grown by 11 after more test results had been received. Seventy-one inmates have tested positive along with five staff since Aug. 3.
Results are pending for four more inmates, but all staff results were in, according to Capt. Matt LeMonds.
There were 18 new University of Kentucky students added to Lexington’s case count Thursday morning, Hall said. He said that includes students tested through UK’s on-campus back-to-school testing program and students tested at other locations.
Students who test positive have to quarantine in Fayette County to be added to the city’s totals, according to the health department. Otherwise, they get added to the totals in the county or state in which they quarantine.
Lexington previously had four consecutive days with case increases under 70. The city has confirmed 931 new cases so far this month.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 9:20 AM.