Lexington posts highest daily COVID-19 case count in over two months
The city of Lexington reported 172 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, which is the most recorded in a single day since Sept. 19.
The seven-day rolling average for COVID-19 cases in Lexington is now 121, which is much higher than it’s been recently. On Dec. 1, the seven-day average was 81.
The trend matches rising numbers of coronavirus cases statewide. All but 14 counties fall under the “red” category in the state’s incident rate map and the positivity rate sat at 9.17 percent as of Tuesday.
Kentucky recently passed the 800,000 mark for total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
Kevin Hall, communications director for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, thinks the rise in case numbers is still the result of Thanksgiving gatherings and other attributing factors.
“It’s likely that people are testing just in preparation for family gatherings and events for December, but we knew that once the cold weather hit and people were going to ball games and movies and events, holiday gatherings, parties, that it would be very likely that the cases would go up,” Hall said.
There is no evidence that the omicron variant has made its way to Kentucky yet, according to Hall. He said the delta strand is still the dominant variant in the Commonwealth as well as the nation.
With Christmas and New Year’s Eve right around the corner, Hall says the main way to stay safe from the virus is to get vaccinated.
“That is the easiest and best way to slow this down,” Hall said. “If you look at the latest numbers from the CDC about 61 percent of Lexington residents are fully vaccinated, and we need that number to be much higher. And that’s not only just in Lexington, we need central Kentucky because people from the surrounding communities come here for their shopping, for their meals, for their entertainment.”
All vaccinated adults in Kentucky became eligible for the COVID-19 booster shot on No. 17. According to the New York Times, a recent study has revealed that the booster shot for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can neutralize the new omicron variant, which is rapidly spreading across the country.
The number of flu cases in Lexington is also on the rise. There are now 17 lab-confirmed cases of the flu in Lexington according to the health department after having only three active cases last week.
The health department says that number could be even higher, as most providers test for the flu with rapid testing, which is not required to be reported to the health department.
The health department has same-day appointments available for the COVID-19 vaccine and flu shots on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at the Public Health Clinic on 650 Newtown Pike.
Call 859-288-2483 to schedule your appointment.
