Lexington mayor calls on people to wear masks after COVID-19 numbers climbed in June
COVID-19 has continued to grow in Lexington, as cases, deaths and hospitalizations increased more in June than in any other month.
The virus has begun to take more of a toll on younger Lexington residents than it had before. Cases among residents 34 and under increased by more than 60 percent in June, according to Lexington-Fayette County Health Department data.
Lexington also had its youngest COVID-19 death to date in late June: a 30-year-old woman with no underlying conditions, according to the health department and a state report.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said Wednesday she will be emphasizing and encouraging the use of masks as the number of deaths from the respiratory illness and new cases continues to climb.
“People are not masking,” Gorton said during a coronavirus update with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. “Wear a mask when you go out.”
Gorton said in addition to city-sponsored content encouraging mask use, the city is also working with other influential people in the city of Lexington to encourage mask wearing.
Deaths more than doubled in June, according to health department data, as there were 16 deaths for the month, raising the total to 29. Ten of those 16 deaths were nursing home residents. Lexington hadn’t had any nursing home deaths until June. Those 10 deaths are from two nursing homes – Pine Meadows and Homestead Post Acute – which each have five.
“They are very concerned about their residents, they’re concerned about their staff, and that the guidelines are allowing outside guests and visitors, they’re concerned about them as well,” Lexington health department spokesman Kevin Hall said.
Hall said that there was one person at the city health department in charge of working with long term care facilities, and Pine Meadows and Homestead were in contact with them multiple times a day to work on managing the virus’ impact.
As of Tuesday, Pine Meadows had 25 resident cases and 18 staff cases, all of which were current positives, according to state data. Homestead had 39 resident cases, 25 of which were current positives, and 19 staff cases, 15 of which were current.
The increases have continued despite there being fewer reported cases and deaths at the Federal Medical Center on Leestown Road. The prison medical facility was the site of an outbreak in May, and six of Lexington’s deaths have been FMC inmates.
Hospitalizations have decreased as a percentage of total cases, but have increased in total each month. There were 75 new hospitalizations in June, according to health department data. There were 61 in May and 52 in March and April combined.
Given the jump in new cases and deaths, Councilman James Brown questioned Wednesday if the state would have to roll back re-opening of businesses and other public spaces, which has happened in other states that saw surges in cases after loosening social distancing restrictions.
Fayette County Health Commissioner Dr. Kraig Humbaugh said despite the increase in cases, the city’s hospitals still have capacity to treat COVID-19 patients. The state will not roll back re-opening unless the number of hospitalizations begins to outstrip the healthcare system’s capacity.
“We are controlling the increase much better than other states,” Humbaugh said.
Still, with the reopening of bars looming, the city will need to watch new infections closely, he said.
To help stem the rise in cases, Gorton encouraged council members to push the importance of wearing masks in public on council’s social media accounts and in newsletters to constituents.
But one council member said Wednesday some city employees aren’t wearing masks.
Councilman Mark Swanson said he was at the police department prior to the Wednesday coronavirus update meeting. No one there was wearing masks, which he found troubling. “Setting in example is very important,” Swanson said.
Gorton and Public Safety Commissioner Ken Armstrong said the city strongly encourages city employees to wear masks but cannot require them.
“Employees are constantly encouraged to wear masks,” Armstrong said. “But we have no mechanism to require them.”
One of the statistical mainstays throughout the pandemic has been the effect of the virus on minority communities. Lexington’s Hispanic population has accounted for about 25 percent of confirmed cases despite only making up 7 percent of the city’s population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Lexington’s Black population has accounted for about 24 percent of cases despite making up only about 14 percent of the population. Lexington utilized a mobile testing program to try to meet minority communities and increase testing last weekend.
There were 555 people tested across three days in Cardinal Valley, according to John Bobel, spokesman for Lexington Emergency Management. The health department said Wednesday that there had been 30 confirmed positives from those tests so far.
“We want to help facilitate the process of getting as many people tested in Fayette County as we can,” Bobel said. “And that certainly includes the Cardinal Valley area and those populations.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 2:53 PM.