‘It’s coming from everywhere.’ Lexington shatters its one-day COVID-19 case record
Lexington exceeded 200 new COVID-19 cases in a single day for the first time over the weekend. The city had 236 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, surpassing its previous one-day record of 181 cases.
Those 236 new cases were among 338 total new cases from the weekend, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. The department releases the number of new infections from Saturday and Sunday on Monday. Otherwise, it releases the previous day’s totals the following day.
“We are seeing it from everywhere,” said health department spokesman Kevin Hall. “I mean it is truly coming from everywhere in the community.”
Lexington reported 1,038 new cases over the past seven days, making it the first week in which 1,000 cases were reported. There were also three new hospitalizations and one new death from Saturday and Sunday. Lexington’s totals since March increased to 12,468 cases, 102 deaths and 722 hospitalizations.
Cases have risen in nursing homes and at universities. That includes the state’s largest student body at the University of Kentucky.
The rolling seven-day average for UK student cases had once fallen under 10 new cases per day. But it has more than doubled over the last two weeks and was more than 22 new cases per day. UK students have accounted for more than 20 percent of the city’s total cases.
There were 43 new UK cases over Saturday and Sunday, according to the health department’s data.
UK officials were not surprised by the increase in cases over the past week or so because the number was consistent with the rest of the city’s increases, spokesman Jay Blanton said.
“At this point, we believe our continued interventions — ongoing randomized and wastewater testing, daily screening, robust contact tracing and wellness support for students and expanded flu vaccinations — will continue to help us manage the virus,” Blanton said when cases showed a notable increase Friday.
Lexington officials “cautiously optimistic” about vaccine
As Lexington’s new wave of coronavirus infections has continued, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Monday morning that its COVID-19 vaccine had proven more than 90 percent effective in a Phase 3 trial.
But the promising results don’t yet ensure a faster timetable for distribution of the vaccine. That would require an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, which can’t be applied for based on the new results alone.
“We estimate that a median of two months of safety data following the second and final dose of the vaccine candidate — required by FDA’s guidance for potential Emergency Use Authorization — will be available by the third week of November,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement Monday morning.
But as the latest surge continued, the Lexington health department was too busy “dealing with the here and now” to be overly optimistic about recent study results.
“We are hopeful, and it’s encouraging,” Hall said. “That’s much better news than it only being 10 percent effective. But until all the trials are done, we remain cautiously optimistic.”
The vaccine won’t be available to the general public when it’s first deployed, as it will initially be given to first responders and health care workers, Hall said. COVID-19 will be “rampant” in Lexington by the time a vaccine arrives if residents don’t start wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding large groups of people, Hall said.
Lexington joins Kentucky’s contact tracing program
The Lexington health department transitioned Monday to the state’s contact tracing program, which was intended to help streamline the contact tracing process and help keep the state Department for Public Health updated with the city’s cases.
Gov. Andy Beshear publicly scolded Fayette County on Oct. 1 for not being on the state’s system. He said Fayette County was “the only local health department left in the state that’s not using the contact tracing software that helps us have an overall state approach.”
“They stand to lose, I think, hundreds of thousands of dollars of CARES Act funding with that,” he said.
Lexington was working to get onto the state’s system at the time, Hall said, but it required additional equipment and staff training. The city won’t have any lags in reporting new cases as it begins using the state’s contact tracing system, but more detailed data about the virus’ effect on certain demographics may be delayed at first, Hall said.
“We’re still learning software, and we’re still updating numbers into our current software.”
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 8:51 AM.