Lexington reports 330 new COVID-19 cases, one of its largest single-day spikes yet
Lexington on Thursday reported more than 300 new COVID-19 cases in a single day for just the sixth time since the pandemic started.
There were 330 new infections, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. That’s the most new cases in a single day since Dec. 9, which was the day Lexington set a new one-day record with 451 cases.
Lexington’s rolling seven-day average of new cases has increased to 215.9, its highest point in about three weeks.
Lexington is “still seeing some backlog” from lab closures during the holidays, health department spokesman Kevin Hall said. There are also new cases that originated from the holidays, he said.
The surge of infections after Christmas has caused Fayette County’s incidence rate to spike. The incidence rate is the state Department for Public Health’s method for measuring the severity of COVID-19 spread in every Kentucky county. Lexington’s incidence rate was 69 as of Wednesday evening, its highest point since Dec. 12.
Lexington has reported 1,286 cases in just the first six days of January, which means the city is on pace to set a new one-month record for cases.
There were nine new hospitalizations and zero new deaths reported Thursday morning. Since the pandemic first reached Lexington on March 8, the city has reported 24,680 total cases, 165 deaths and 1,350 hospitalizations.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 9:41 AM.