Lexington reports its 100th COVID-19 death. City has 117 new coronavirus cases
One hundred Lexington residents have died from COVID-19, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.
The city’s 100th death was reported Wednesday morning. The victim was a 96-year-old woman, according to Mayor Linda Gorton. Sixty-three deaths have occurred in residents 75 or older, and 23 deaths have occurred in residents between the ages of 65 and 74. Coronavirus had killed one person under the age of 35 in Lexington as of Wednesday morning.
Nursing home residents have also been prevalent in Lexington’s COVID-19 deaths. Fifty-seven of the 100 deaths have been nursing home residents.
“Our city has passed a grim milestone,” Gorton said on Twitter Wednesday morning. “... This 96-year-old woman had a family and friends who will miss her dearly. The virus is not going away, and we know it can be dangerous.”
Gorton also asked Lexington residents not to gather with others, to work from home as much as possible and to avoid nonessential activities away from home.
“We must continue to be vigilant in practicing safe health measures,” she said.
COVID-19 has had a more severe effect on older Lexington residents, but it has also harmed minorities at a disproportionate rate. Black Lexington residents have accounted for more than one-fourth of COVID-19 deaths despite making up just 14.4 percent of the city’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In addition to the most recent death, 117 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed by the health department Wednesday. The city’s rolling seven-day average was 126.4 as of Wednesday morning, one of its highest points since the pandemic first reached Lexington in early March.
There was a surge of cases in the second half of October, and new case counts have remained high through the first few days of November. In-person voting on Election Day Tuesday and Halloween activities last week created the potential for additional case increases in the coming weeks, but the Lexington health department already anticipated case growth.
“Even before those events, we’ve been expecting the numbers to grow because of the cold weather and reports of more people gathering indoors without following guidelines,” health department spokesman Kevin Hall said.
Hall said residents from counties in the state’s “red zone” classification – like Fayette County – should follow health guidance about gathering with groups of people who don’t live in the same household. He also said counties not in the red zone should be careful too.
As of last week, 68 of Kentucky’s 120 counties were in the state’s red zone, which is classified as a county enduring “critical” spread of the virus, according to the Department for Public Health.
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 10:09 AM.