Can Lexington COVID increases keep getting smaller? Health officials are ‘hopeful’
Less than a month ago, Lexington reported its seventh consecutive week of increasing COVID-19 cases. The last two weeks have been a different story.
There were 1,051 new coronavirus cases reported by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department over the past seven days — that was the fewest new cases in a single week since Nov. 2-8. The total also was a 40.6 percent decrease from the city’s record case count reported just two weeks ago (1,771 cases).
The city has now reported back-to-back weeks of smaller increases in new cases for the first time since October. The Lexington health department isn’t sure why.
“At this time, the decline in new cases hasn’t occurred long enough for us to call this a trend yet,” said Christina King, spokeswoman for the Lexington health department. “We are hopeful it will continue though, and as that decline continues, we will better be able to see what is leading to that.”
The promising signs continued when the city reported 85 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday morning.
Troubling trends in other city COVID-19 statistics continue. The past seven days set a one-week hospitalization record for the city. There were 96 new hospitalizations reported among Lexington residents.
COVID-19 deaths have also risen. The city has already had 19 deaths through 20 days in December, and previously unconfirmed deaths are rolling in from November. As of Monday, there were 32 confirmed deaths that occurred in November, the most of any month.
The health department has urged residents to continue following COVID-19 safety guidelines, even as cases decline and vaccines begin.
“We can’t put our guard down,” the health department said in a tweet Monday. “It’s too early for anyone to stop following the guidelines to keep this from spreading.”
Local and state health departments have continuously warned people that they’ll have to wait patiently for doses. The Lexington health department said Monday that the general public wouldn’t have access to the vaccine before 2021.
Health officials have previously said that the vaccine won’t be widely and readily available until the spring or summer.
Celebrating the holidays in a pandemic
For the winter holidays, the state Department for Public Health released guidance for celebrating safely. The department advised residents to celebrate virtually with people outside their household, stay home, limit travel and be mindful of the size and location of gatherings to reduce risk as much as possible.
The department also advised that small celebrations within a household were a safer alternative to traditional larger family gatherings.
Getting a COVID-19 test in Lexington during the holidays
Many Lexington coronavirus test providers will have altered hours and closings during Christmas week. Two test sites that expanded their hours are the Wild Health test sites at Kroger Field and Eastern State Hospital.
The site at Kroger Field will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the foreseeable future, according to Dr. Luke Murray, director of testing for Wild Health. The Kroger Field testing site can handle up to 3,000 cars per day, Murray said. The Eastern State Hospital testing site will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Appointments are required for both sites and can be scheduled at Lexington.wildhealth.com.
There are several other places to get tested by appointment in Lexington this week. Limited availability can be checked on the test providers’ websites or by calling the provider.
Keeneland, 4201 Versailles Road. Drive-through only, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday and Tuesday. Appointments: doineedacovid19test.com.
Lexington Urgent Care centers, 1701 Nicholasville Road, 3101 Richmond Road, 4097 Nichols Park Drive. Appointments: urgentcareofky.com.
Walgreens, 110 Town Centre Drive, drive-through only. Appointments: walgreens.com/coronavirus.
CVS, 118 New Circle Road and 2000 Harrodsburg Road. Appointments: cvs.com
Medix DX Labs also offers testing by appointment at five locations in Lexington: 3191 Beaumont Centre Circle, 3180 Richmond Road, 120 Malabu Drive, 3801 Mall Road (Dick’s Sporting Goods Parking Lot) and 161 Lexington Green Circle (Lexington Green Parking Lot). Appointments can be scheduled at medixdx.com.
Lexington residents can also call their local Kroger Little Clinic for testing appointments.
1600 Leestown Road - (859) 259-4890
3101 Richmond Road - (859) 268-9866
4101 Tates Creek Road - (859) 977-2008
3175 Beaumont Center Parkway - (859) 219-5152
1650 Bryan Station Road - (859) 977-2096
Redding Drug at 431 Redding Road also offers testing Monday through Saturday. Appointments can be scheduled by calling (859) 475-1973.
There are three testing sites that don’t require appointments this week.
- Southland Christian Church, 2349 Richmond Road. Drive-through only, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (unknown if the site will be closed for Christmas).
- Bluegrass Community and Technical College, 400 Loudon Avenue. Drive-through only, Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Consolidated Baptist Church, 1625 Russell Cave Road, drive-through or walk-up, Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 3:26 PM.