Lexington reports more than 200 COVID-19 cases. Thanksgiving will limit testing
Lexington reported 213 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday morning, pushing the city’s total for November over 4,500.
It’s the fifth straight day in which Lexington has reported more than 200 cases. The November coronavirus spike has been far worse than any previous month in Lexington.
The city has already reported a record high for new cases and new hospitalizations this month. There have also been 13 deaths this month, putting the city on pace for its third-highest death toll in a month. There were no new deaths reported Tuesday morning.
Health officials have repeatedly shown concern about the most recent spike because there’s a high likelihood that it will get much worse after Thanksgiving, which is expected to contribute to more infections from family and other gatherings.
In total, Lexington has reported 15,849 cases, 856 hospitalizations and 112 COVID-19 deaths.
Lexington’s rolling seven-day average of new cases was 239.7 as of Tuesday morning. The rolling average has increased over the last seven consecutive weeks as cases have continued to skyrocket. The city has reported 100 or more new cases in 26 of the last 27 days.
Lexington testing schedules change for Thanksgiving
COVID-19 testing sites are changing their schedules for Thanksgiving this week. The Keeneland test site will be open Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but it’ll be closed Wednesday and won’t reopen until Monday. Appointments are required for testing.
The University of Kentucky testing sites on College Way and at Eastern State Hospital will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, but appointments are limited. The sites will also be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday. They will both be closed on Thursday and Friday. They’ll reopen from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and return to normal hours on Monday.
The test sites at Bluegrass Community and Technical College and Red Mile will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. No appointment is required. The Bluegrass testing site will be closed Thursday and Friday. The city’s mobile testing program will move from Red Mile to Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church from Dec. 3-5.
The testing site at Southland Christian Church will be closed for the rest of the week. It will resume normal operation on Monday.
Lexington’s test demand has seen a significant increase recently. City leaders said the combination of spiking numbers and upcoming Thanksgiving plans caused more people to get tested. Health officials, including Dr. Steven Stack from the state Department for Public Health, have warned that testing negative doesn’t make it safe for families to have big Thanksgiving gatherings this year.
As demand increased, officials at Wild Health made changes in labeling samples to help people get tested without delays at the UK sites. Wild Health runs the College Way and Eastern State Hospital sites.
“There are no longer any lines or delays. I think our longest wait time is like five or 10 minutes,” Dr. Luke Murray said Tuesday morning. Murray is the COVID-19 testing director for Wild Health. He said they were running as many as 300 tests per hour at the College Way testing site.
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 9:21 AM.