Deaths on the rise: Lexington reports 3 new COVID-19 deaths, 212 new cases.
Lexington reported three new deaths along with 212 new COVID-19 cases Friday morning.
The three victims were in their 80s, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. The city’s coronavirus death toll is now 109. It’s the third consecutive day that Lexington has had at least one new death. There have been five deaths this week, making it the deadliest week since Nov. 1.
As Lexington’s COVID-19 spike continues to get worse, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department is pleading with people to follow COVID-19 guidelines.
“We see so many comments like ‘Yeah, but the number of deaths is low,’” health department spokesman Kevin Hall said. “But that number isn’t low to the families of those we’ve lost from COVID-19. With this surge in cases, the fear is more people will die from COVID-19.”
The concern is heightened at this time of year. Hall has repeatedly said Thanksgiving and other holiday celebrations in the fall and winter months will make the COVID-19 situation worse if people don’t follow the safety guidelines.
Deaths had been relatively low in November prior to this week. There were a total of five reported from Nov. 1 to Nov. 15.
Lexington’s deaths have largely been in older populations, with 70 of them being 75 or older. Twenty-three of the deaths were people between 65 and 74. Eight were between 55 and 64. Four were between 45 and 54. Three were between 35 and 44. One was between 25 and 34.
The total number of cases reported since March increased to 14,763. There have been 3,430 new cases reported in November. It’s the first time Lexington has reported 3,000 or more new cases in a month. The 212 new cases were the fifth-most the city reported in a single day. All of the top five days have come since Nov. 7, according to data from the Lexington health department.
There were also 14 new hospitalizations reported Friday morning. The city has set a new one-month hospitalization record with 145 hospitalizations so far this month. There were 138 hospitalizations in October. There have been 52 hospitalizations reported since Monday.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 10:07 AM.