COVID-19 pandemic deniers vandalize Lexington health care buildings, officials say
Lexington health care workers and officials have become the targets for COVID-19 conspiracy theorists making efforts to downplay the virus.
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and the Urgent Care center on Nicholasville Road were vandalized with graffiti about the coronavirus. On multiple parts of the building, Urgent Care employees found spray-painted messages, including “#plandemic,” and “COVID-19 was an inside job” and the URL to a website that pushes COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
“In our opinion, it’s a coward’s way to have done it,” said Kim Blanke, a member of the management team at Urgent Care Centers of Kentucky. “That’s obviously not the platform to express yourself.”
The spray paint was on the building next to the front door and on the wall on the side of the building where patients park, Blanke said. There was a picture of a wildcat taped to the front door. The photo had the words “eternal vigilance” on it, Blanke said.
The site provides COVID-19 testing. Blanke said the facility maintained its usual operations Monday despite the vandalism.
Blanke said the urgent care location didn’t have external security cameras because they weren’t needed until now. The suspects could’ve stayed out of sight by hiding in bushes or staying in low-lit areas based on where the vandalism was on the building. Blanke said.
Some of the same messages were sprayed on the front windows of the health department’s building on Newtown Pike, a health department spokesman said. The words were mostly illegible by 10 a.m. Monday, but the word “COVID” was visible. There appeared to be a security camera directly above the area where the vandals spray-painted.
“It is unfortunate that someone would deface public property, especially one that is working long hours in response to this worldwide pandemic,” health department spokesman Kevin Hall said. “Our mission remains the same: helping Lexington be well.”
Lexington police took a criminal mischief report for both locations, and officers were investigating the vandalism, police spokeswoman Brenna Angel said. Hall said the health department would cooperate with the Lexington Police Department for the investigation.
It’s not the first time coronavirus-related vandalism occurred in Lexington since the pandemic started. Messages linked to COVID-19 conspiracy theories were spray-painted on the Walgreens COVID-19 testing site on Executive Drive in September.
Some of the phrases were identical to the newest incident. They included “False Positives” and “PCR Test Fake.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 1:08 PM.