Thanksgiving fuels new, big Lexington high mark in COVID-19 cases. Hospitals busier.
Gov. Andy Beshear believes Kentucky may be in a coronavirus “plateau,” but Lexington isn’t. The city reported 451 new COVID-19 cases Thursday morning, which set a one-day record.
There were also 15 new hospitalizations and three new deaths, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. Two of the deaths occurred in November but hadn’t been confirmed as coronavirus deaths.
“Thanksgiving is most likely contributing to this new rise,” health department spokesman Kevin Hall said. “We thought that 10 days to 14 days after Thanksgiving, we would start seeing an increase. That seems to line up with this.”
“About 50” of the newly-reported cases were prison inmates at Blackburn Correctional Complex or the Federal Medical Center, Hall said. If those cases were removed, the new total would’ve been the second-highest one-day increase.
“If you take 50 out, that’s still 400 new cases,” Hall said. “So the public needs to understand that it’s not limited to one place.”
Lexington has now had 19,915 total cases, 140 deaths and 1,066 hospitalizations since COVID-19 first hit the city in March. Lexington has been experiencing some of its worst numbers for the virus. November set a new record for cases, hospitalizations and deaths in a single month. There have already been 2,512 new cases, 151 hospitalizations and eight deaths reported in December.
Lexington set a new record for the number of residents hospitalized with the virus. There are now more than 100 Lexingtonians hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the health department. That number only includes Lexington residents. There are also nonresidents being treated for coronavirus in Lexington hospitals.
Despite reporting 4,324 cases in a single day, Beshear said Thursday night that there was evidence the state could be heading to a plateau. The state reported 3,481 new cases Wednesday.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 9:18 AM.