Updated: A record number of Lexington residents are hospitalized with COVID-19 surge
There were 97 Lexington residents with COVID-19 in the hospital Tuesday morning, which was a record for the city, according to the local health department.
Lexington has had six straight weeks of increases in new hospitalizations among residents leading up to the record-setting day. Ninety-four Lexington residents with coronavirus were admitted to hospitals last week, according to the health department, which set a one-week record.
The 97 local residents receiving hospital care Tuesday morning were nearly three times as many as the numbers in the summer, according to Kevin Hall, spokesman for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. There are more COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Lexington than many think, Hall said.
“There’s just so much misinformation out there,” he said. “I saw people arguing yesterday that hospitalizations were low, and that couldn’t be further from what we’re seeing in Lexington.”
Hospitalizations aren’t just high among Lexington residents. More than 73 percent of hospital beds in the Central Kentucky region were occupied Tuesday, according to Gov. Andy Beshear. More than 72 percent of intensive care unit beds were occupied and more than 36 percent of ventilators were in use in the region.
The 97 people receiving hospital treatment only include Lexington residents, Hall said. There are additional coronavirus patients in Lexington hospitals who are from other counties. The local health department doesn’t track nonresidents.
CHI Saint Joseph Health had 61 COVID-19 patients in its Lexington facility Tuesday afternoon. Capacity for coronavirus patients varies at Saint Joseph based on staffing and the number of other patients in the hospital, spokeswoman Mary Branham said.
“We have developed a surge plan and continue to monitor all developments as COVID-19 continues to spread,” Branham said. “Any capacity concerns would involve a coordinated effort with public health and with other nearby hospitals.”
Baptist Health Lexington had 78 COVID-19 patients Tuesday morning, according to spokeswoman Ruth Ann Childers. The number of people in the intensive care unit was trending upward, Childers said. Hospital leaders were meeting daily to discuss capacity and staffing concerns, she said.
“We are managing staffing but remain concerned about the community exposure of our healthcare workers and continue to appreciate the public wearing masks, washing their hands, remaining physically distant and keeping their gatherings small,” Childers said.
UK HealthCare had 85 coronavirus patients as of Monday afternoon, according to spokeswoman Kristi Willett. Twenty of those patients were in the intensive care unit. UK’s number of COVID-19 patients had been in the 80s for the past week or two, Willett said.
The University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital closed five operating rooms in late November to free up more resources for COVID-19 patients when hospitalizations were surging across the state. There were 81 COVID-19 patients at that time. With surge preparations in place, UK Hospital can expand to as many as 320 ICU beds if needed, Willett said.
To keep hospital capacity stabilized, UK has been working with other Kentucky hospitals to move patients around based on the level of care they need, Willett said.
“This often means we transfer in some of the sickest patients requiring complex care,” Willett said. “However, in some instances, UK HealthCare is moving some less severe or recovered patients still needing care, to other hospitals when appropriate.”
Seventeen new hospitalizations were reported by the Lexington health department Tuesday morning. The city also reported 237 new cases and four deaths Tuesday. Three of the new deaths occurred in November but were only recently confirmed to be COVID-related.
Lexington has reported 19,247 cases, 1,026 hospitalizations and 136 deaths since March 8, the day the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the city.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 11:08 AM.