Lexington reports more than 500 new COVID-19 cases. Jail has cluster of infections.
Lexington reported 537 new COVID-19 cases Monday morning, which could be the first indication of a post-Thanksgiving surge.
The new cases included 334 on Saturday and 239 on Sunday. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department reports new cases from Saturday and Sunday on Monday mornings.
It took Lexington four days to jump from 16,000 cases to 17,000 cases, but there were only three days of newly-reported data in that time frame. New cases were not reported on Thanksgiving day because the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department was closed.
Some of those November cases likely include Fayette County jail inmates and staff. The jail reported Monday that 144 inmates and 12 staff members have tested positive in its latest eruption of COVID-19. As a result of that outbreak and the prevalence of the coronavirus in the community, the entire inmate population and all staff members will be tested this week, said Capt. Matthew LeMonds. The jail currently has 990 inmates and about 300 staff members.
All of the COVID-positive inmates have been isolated, LeMonds said. None has needed hospital care. Most are not showing symptoms.
Some of the latest Lexington cases could be attributed to a data lag from labs and the health department being closed on Thanksgiving. But that’s not the only reason for the increase, the health department said.
Local, state and national health experts fear a Thanksgiving-related surge after the holiday weekend.
“With too many people hosting or attending gatherings for the holiday, the concern is that we’ll see another spike in the next two weeks,” health department spokesman Kevin Hall said.
Lexington had already been in a COVID-19 surge all month. With more than 5,900 cases reported, the city’s November cases have doubled the previous one-month case record (2,804 in September).
Lexington has had 17,239 cases, 915 hospitalizations and 112 deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic first reached Kentucky in March. The city previously reported 113 deaths, but one death has been removed from the count. An investigation is underway to determine if the death was actually caused by COVID-19, according to the local health department.
The University of Kentucky has finished reporting new COVID-19 cases from the fall semester. UK reported 3,107 new student cases from late July up until the beginning of Thanksgiving break last week. Students wound up accounting for about 18 percent of Lexington’s total cases.
In total, about 13 percent of all on-campus UK students contracted COVID-19 by the end of the on-campus portion of the fall semester. Students still have to take final exams online. UK students won’t return to campus following Thanksgiving break.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 9:18 AM.