‘Concerning’: COVID-19 cases rising in Fayette schools at levels not seen since October
The number of new COVID-19 cases is rising in Fayette schools at levels not seen since October, a trend Superintendent Demetrus Liggins called “concerning.”
Over the past week, 145 out of about 42,000 students have tested positive for COVID-19, which is the highest weekly total the district has had since October 5, Liggins told families in a COVID newsletter Wednesday.
“Our case numbers were less than half of that each week during November,” he said.
The school district has prioritized in-person learning and adopted layers of prevention strategies to minimize the possible spread of COVID-19 at school, Liggins said.
Fayette Commissioner of Health Kraig Humbaugh told school district staff that new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise and do not appear to be slowing anytime soon.
Roughly two weeks ago, Humbaugh said, the community was seeing between 60 and 70 cases a day. Last week that figure rose to between 90 and 95 cases a day. Fayette County is now posting between 115 and 120 cases a day, with a rolling seven-day average today of 121.
From November 30 to December 6, the school district saw 145 new student case, 15 new staff cases out of 8,000 employees, 387 new student quarantines and one new staff quarantine.
As of Wednesday, 497 students and four employees were in quarantine.
What Fayette County is seeing mirrors statewide trends, Humbaugh said. He said that there have not been any confirmed cases of the omicron variant in Kentucky.
The Delta variant, along with holiday gatherings, and increased indoor activities as the weather changes are driving the increases, he said.
Humbaugh said that the Health Department is continuing to encourage all eligible people to get vaccinated against both the flu and COVID-19.
As of this week, only 20 percent of children aged 5 to 11 in Fayette County have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Among Fayette County children aged 12 to 17, roughly 45 percent have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fayette schools have partnered with Wild Health to offer free vaccination clinics at schools in Lexington.
“Since case numbers appear to be accelerating again, I’d like to encourage everyone to recommit yourself to being vigilant about prevention,” Liggins said in the newsletter.
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