Lexington officials examine how coronavirus could affect Keeneland, Rupp Arena events
Health and government officials in Lexington, unanimous in their opinion that coronavirus will come to Kentucky, are weighing the public health benefits of restricting, delaying or canceling upcoming events guaranteed to convene throngs of people, including Keeneland’s spring race meet, and concerts and sporting events at Rupp Arena.
Though it’s not guaranteed, the decision to do so would only come after Kentucky has documented cases of the virus, also known as COVID-19, Lexington Mayor Linda Gordon said at a Tuesday news conference.
“I do believe it’s coming,” she said.
Lexington-Fayette County Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kraig Humbaugh said if the need for such “social distancing” measures arise, “some of that will depend on the organizers of the events and whether they think its feasible to go forward with the events.”
Keeneland’s spring meet opens April 2, the KHSAA Boys’s Sweet Sixteen tournament is scheduled from March 18-22 at Rupp Arena, followed by early rounds of the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
Humbaugh said “we are talking about it as a potential social distancing measure, but we also realize that that can have negative consequences for the economy, [and] negative consequences for people whose livelihoods depend on those events.”
The news conference followed a meeting of area health, law enforcement and government officials to talk about how various agencies are planning their responses to the spread of COVID-19. No cases of the new respiratory illness have been confirmed in Kentucky. Of the 122 Kentuckians, total, who have been monitored in the past for blooming symptoms, only a dozen people are still under watch from health officials, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday morning.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, more than 92,000 cases have been confirmed across the world, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, and more than 3,000 people have died. The vast majority of confirmed cases have only caused mild to moderate flu-like symptoms — these mild symptom cases made up more than 80 percent of cases in China.
In the U.S., 60 people have had confirmed cases of the virus and at least six people have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though that figure is likely conservative. The New York Times as of Tuesday afternoon was reporting at least 106 confirmed cases and nine deaths across 15 states.
Though the CDC has definitively said that the “virus is NOT currently spreading widely” in the U.S., “it is important to note that current global circumstances suggest it is likely that this virus will cause a pandemic.”
“As of today, we’re still at low risk here in Central Kentucky, but that might change in the near future” Dr. Humbaugh said Tuesday in Lexington. “The flu remains a higher risk for people.”
So far, about 21,000 cases of the flu have been identified in Kentucky this winter, and 80 people have died, including four children.
In the meantime, since cases of COVID-19 primarily cause mild symptoms, “it makes it more difficult for us to identify cases and therefore it makes it more difficult to employ a containment strategy,” he said. A containment strategy “is always a good idea early on,” before there are confirmed cases, “because it can delay transmission.”
Health officials in unison are recommending people wash their hands often, stay home if sick, sneeze and cough into your elbow and not your hand, disinfect surfaces, and if you have flu-like symptoms that won’t subside, go to the doctor.
Some employers, including the city of Lexington, are already building plans to allow staff to work from home, as a preventative measure to cut down on future potential exposure.
Beshear, after participating in a teleconference with other governors and Vice President Mike Pence about coronavirus, urged Kentucky businesses Tuesday to provide paid sick leave to their employees as needed over the next several months.
“We’ve got to think about removing that disincentive to make sure somebody doesn’t come back to work and spread something even further,” he said.
As for venues where thousands of people gather at once, Mayor Gordon said, “the fact of the matter is, when you go to Rupp Arena right now, you could be exposed to the flu” — a threat that exists every winter.
But with many unknowns swirling around COVID-19, which can’t be tamped down with a vaccine, more strict precautions may be needed, Humbaugh said.
That could include events at Keeneland, a major tourist destination in Lexington. Chief Operating Officer Vince Gabbert, when reached by phone Tuesday, said “this far out, we have no reason to feel like [cancellations or delays] are going to be necessary.”
However, “in our role as a community partner, we would do anything the city was asking us to do in that regard,” Gabbert said. “If it got to that point and the city asked us to limit our attendance or not open, then we would work very closely with city officials to make sure we’re compliant.”
Bill Owen, CEO and President of Central Bank Center, which houses Rupp Arena, said in a statement that the decision to cancel an event rests with the promoter or presenter, but there are exceptions.
“An exception would be an emergency or building failure condition making the event impossible,” he said, adding that he and his staff are “prepared to respond to community health officials as we take steps to contain or mitigate spread of the virus should it advance to Lexington.”
State officials will provide coronavirus updates at http://kycovid19.ky.gov.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 4:02 PM.
