Madison County is back in the red

Blake Vickers, Richmond Register, Ky.
·4 min read

Jul. 26—Blake Vickers

With 205 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Madison County is back in the red zone designation for coronavirus.

The surge in cases comes on the heels of the emergence of the BA.5 variant of the virus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, BA.5 has become the most common strain of the virus in the United States — making up 77.9% of current cases.

The Madison County Health Department has several recommendations for protection against the virus in line with the color coded system currently in use by the CDC.

Recommendations of the health department include:

Stay up to date with vaccinations.

Wear well-fitting masks in all public indoor settings, this includes K-12 schools.

Stay at home if you are sick and follow CDC quarantine guidelines.

Limit any indoor in-person gatherings. Reduce the size and encourage physical distancing of the ones that are held.

High risk individuals should avoid all non-essential indoor public activities and talk to healthcare providers about preventative care.

"There are several factors that go into color coding. It's not just on cases alone, but on each individual areas, hospital capacity, and things like that. So there are several factors that go into color coding," Madison County Health Department information officer Kelley McBride said on Monday.

The exact number of active cases is unknown in the county.

As the use of at-home COVID-19 tests has become more common, McBride said it prevents the health department from having a truly complete count.

"The health department doesn't have an official count, because there are a lot of home tests that are out there. Of course doctor's offices and physicians are reporting to the labs and things like that, but home testing hasn't," McBride said. "So we are going by the Covid.gov numbers from the CDC and also on the Kentucky COVID-19.gov website. We are sharing that information on the homepage of our website."

McBride encourages citizens of the county to make use of the free home testing kits and N95 masks available at the health department.

While keeping up to date with vaccines and the booster shots that follow is still recommended by the CDC and the health department, there are other methods of treating COVID-19 that are also available.

Paxlovid is an oral antiviral drug that can be taken by anyone from the age of 12 and up. For those taking the drug, it is recommended to start treatment as soon as possible. Specifically, it must begin within five days of coming down with symptoms.

Remdesivir is an antiviral IV infusion that must be taken over the course of three consecutive days at a healthcare facility. It is rated for adults and children. Treatment must begin within seven days of coming down with symptoms.

Bebtelovimab is a single IV injection monoclonal antibody that can be taken by anyone from the ages 12 and up. Treatment must start within seven days of the arrival of symptoms.

Legevrio is an oral antiviral medication that can only be taken by adults. Treatment must start within five days of the arrival of symptoms.

As part of the Test to Treat program, people potentially infected with COVID-19 can be tested and prescribed one of these in one fell swoop.

Some nearby locations that take part in Test to Treat include:

CVS (409 East Main Street, Richmond) has Paxlovid and Lagevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Madison Drug (110 Big Hill Avenue, Richmond) has Paxlovid and Lagevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Walgreens (220 Richmond Road North, Berea) has Paxlovid and Lagevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Walgreens (656 University Shopping Center, Richmond) has Paxlovid and Legevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Walgreens (656 University Shopping Center, Richmond) has Paxlovid and Legevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Kroger Pharmacy (890 Richmond Plaza, Richmond) has Paxlovid and Lagevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Walmart Pharmacy (820 Eastern Bypass, Richmond) has Lagevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Walmart Pharmacy (120 Jill Drive, Berea) has Lagevrio available as part of Test to Treat.

Meijer (2013 Lantern Ridge Drive, Richmond) has Lagevrio and Paxlovid available as part of Test to Treat.

Knight's Pharmacy (191 Glades Road, Berea) has Paxlovid available as part of treatment.

According to a COVID-19 dashboard from the Kentucky Department of Public Health, there have been 30,107 total cases of COVID-19 in Madison County and 288 deaths since the onset of the pandemic.