‘This remains serious.’ New COVID-19 deaths push Lexington’s total to 14 in January
Lexington has reported more than 10 percent of all its COVID-19 deaths since the start of the new year, including three new deaths disclosed Thursday morning.
The city has had 179 confirmed COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic first reached Lexington in March. Of the 19 deaths reported since Jan. 1, 14 occurred in January. The others happened in 2020. Investigations to confirm COVID-19 as the cause of death sometimes cause reporting by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to be delayed.
“We learn about them as they get confirmed,” said Kevin Hall, spokesman for the health department.
Five of the people who died in January were residents at long-term care facilities, Hall said. About 63.7 percent of all Lexington COVID-19 deaths have been people 75 or older, according to data from the Lexington health department.
Lexington reported 196 new COVID-19 cases Thursday morning. The city’s rolling seven-day average of new cases has stayed around 200 for the past week. There were also 14 new coronavirus hospitalizations reported.
There have been 27,563 total infections and 1,513 hospitalizations in Lexington since the pandemic started, according to the Lexington health department.
“The number of deaths and hospitalizations are an indication this remains serious in Lexington,” Hall said.
A Lexington YMCA closes over COVID-19 cases, exposures
The Whitaker Family YMCA closed Wednesday and won’t reopen until next week because of staff COVID-19 cases and exposures. YMCA of Central Kentucky announced the temporary closure on Facebook Wednesday.
“We believe exposure is limited, but we want to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep staff, members, and program participants safe,” YMCA of Central Kentucky said in a Facebook post. “Those that had direct contact with the individuals have been notified.”
Other YMCA locations remain open and virtual services are available, the YMCA said. The Whitaker Family location will be cleaned and staff will be encouraged to get tested and avoid returning to work if they have any symptoms, the YMCA said.
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 10:28 AM.