Lexington is seeing ‘a true reduction’ in COVID-19 cases. But deaths continue to rise
Lexington reported four new COVID-19 deaths Friday morning, continuing a trend of rising death counts in the city even as case numbers have fallen drastically in recent weeks.
Lexington has now had 223 residents die from COVID-19 since the pandemic first hit the city in March. More than half of those deaths have occurred in the last four months. Thirteen of them have occurred in February.
The February deaths have included two people in the 50s, three in their 60s, two in their 70s, five in their 80s and one in their 90s, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. Eight were male and five were female. Residents 75 and older have accounted for about 64.6 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in Lexington.
It’s possible that February deaths will continue to increase after the month is over, and it could wind up one of the city’s deadliest months. Lengthy case investigations to determine that COVID-19 was a contributing factor in a victim’s death delay when some deaths are reported. The city reported deaths from January and December earlier this month.
While deaths have remained high, February has included sharp declines in other Lexington COVID-19 statistics. With 109 new cases reported Friday morning, there have been 2,004 cases reported through the first 18 days of the month. That’s less than one-third of what the city has averaged for each of the past three months.
The rolling seven-day average of new cases for Lexington has dropped over five consecutive weeks, and it is on pace to drop again this week. The Fayette County incidence rate dropped Wednesday to 25.1, the lowest it’s been since Oct. 27. The incidence rate is a metric used by the state Department for Public Health to measure the spread of COVID-19 in each Kentucky county.
University of Kentucky students returning to campus haven’t caused Lexington coronavirus numbers to spike, as student cases did in the fall. The rolling seven-day average for students was only 13.9 in the latest available data from the university.
A decrease in positivity rate statewide indicates that the case decline is real. But the local health department has also warned that extreme winter weather could be causing the lower numbers.
“It’s likely a combination of factors,” said Kevin Hall, spokesman for the Lexington health department. “A true reduction of positive cases and less testing due to weather and fewer sites being open.”
Lexington in February has also only reported about one-third of the number of hospitalizations it reported in December and January.
This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 9:11 AM.