Fayette Co. reports nine new COVID-19 cases, two came from a house party

The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department said Wednesday 37 people have now tested positive for the novel coronavirus, an increase of nine new patients from Tuesday.

Kevin Hall, a spokesman for the department, said two of the nine new cases were linked to a small house party. One person who attended the house party had previously tested positive Tuesday. That brings the total number of people who tested positive to the respiratory illness who attended the party to three.

This house party was a different one that Gov. Andy Beshear referenced in a Tuesday press conference.

Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton warned Fayette County residents on Tuesday not to hold small parties or gatherings at their homes after the first positive case from the party was confirmed.

“We’ve expected an increase in numbers of cases as new testing has come online. It’s important to practice social distancing ... now is not the time for social gatherings of any size,” Gorton said on Twitter.

Hall said in addition to the two new cases that were traced back to the party, two of the new cases were connected to previous cases. The remaining cases are new with no prior connections.

On Tuesday, the department said there were 28 confirmed cases of the virus in Kentucky’s second-most populated county, nearly double the 14 cases Gov. Andy Beshear reported on Monday.

There has been one coronavirus-related death — an 82-year-old woman— in Fayette County.

Beshear said Tuesday the number of cases statewide topped 160. The governor will give an update at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The health department did not provide any additional demographic information on the new cases released Wednesday. But the department has previously said that it will no longer conduct “contact tracing” because of the growing number of cases and lack of staffing.

This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 2:10 PM.