‘This is up to the people of Lexington.’ Lexington sets record for new COVID-19 cases
Lexington broke city COVID-19 records Thursday: most new cases in a single day and fastest accumulation of 1,000 new coronavirus cases.
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department reported 255 new cases Thursday, which pushed the city’s total case count over 13,000. The new mark came just six days after Lexington hit 12,000 cases. The city has now had 13,090 total coronavirus infections since March 8, which was the day the first case was confirmed.
Lexington hadn’t previously hit a new 1,000-case mark in less than a week. It has taken the city fewer and fewer days to hit each of the last 1,000 case intervals.
The city’s most recent COVID-19 surge has been by far its worst: the rolling seven-day average of new cases has ballooned to over 180. In previous surges, the rolling seven-day average peaked at 107.1.
The rampant COVID-19 spread is “not coming from any one place,” local health department spokesman Kevin Hall said. There aren’t specific businesses, schools or population groups causing the spread, he said.
“It’s now coming down to personal choice,” Hall said. “... This is up to the people of Lexington and Central Kentucky.”
Hall said it’s vital for people to wear a mask, practice social distancing and avoid going out if they feel sick. A vaccine may be on the horizon, but Lexington residents can’t act as if it’s already here, he said.
“That is months away, and people don’t understand that,” he said.
Lexington is on pace to report more than 5,000 new cases in November. The city’s current one-month record is 2,804, which was reported in September. All five of Lexington’s top five single-day increases have come in the past week.
There were no new deaths reported Thursday morning. Lexington has reported 103 total COVID-19 deaths, as well as 749 hospitalizations.
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 9:09 AM.