268 new COVID cases Friday push Fayette’s seven-day average up to 231
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Another day of new COVID cases well over 200 pushed Fayette County’s seven-day positivity rate up again.
And with the surge reaching the highest levels in months last week, Fayette County health officials worry the numbers will only get worse coming out of the Labor Day weekend holiday because of family gatherings, football games and other events that prompted gatherings.
The county has seen spikes in cases in the two weeks after every long holiday weekend since the pandemic began.
“Looking out ten days to two weeks from now, that’s when we’ll start seeing any increase if there were people who were at gatherings or people from any other large scale events before you start seeing some of the cases get reported,” said Kevin Hall, communications officer for LFCHD. “It is worth reminding people though that a lot of times it will never be known where somebody caught COVID-19, particularly as people aren’t staying indoors like they were at the beginning of this because places are open, people are going out.”
According to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s daily report Monday, the county had 268 new cases Friday. That upped the seven-day average from 225 to 231. That was slightly below the seven-day average of 232 last Wednesday.
That number was 7 a day on July 1 and 87 a day at the start of August.
The new cases numbers pushed the total number of new cases above 42,000 to 42,094.
The county has lost 342 residents to COVID-related causes since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Free COVID-19 vaccines are available by same-day appointment every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the department’s Public Health Clinic at 650 Newtown Pike.
Call 859-288-2483 to schedule an appointment. The Public Health Clinic offers the Moderna and Janssen vaccines for ages 18 and older and the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and older.
Being fully vaccinated makes people less likely to catch COVID-19, and if they do end up getting it, it makes them far less likely to have severe symptoms requiring hospitalization.
Find vaccine information at www.vaccines.gov/search.
Both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations can help slow the outbreak by:
• Wearing a face covering in crowded public areas
• Avoiding close contact with people who are sick, especially those with COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough, muscle/body aches, loss of taste/smell, nausea, etc.);
• Covering coughs and sneezes;
• Avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth;
• Washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
We update Lexington’s COVID-19 numbers Monday-Friday at lfchd.org.
Those who are immunocompromised and received a second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine at least four weeks ago are eligible for a third dose. Call 859-288-2483 to schedule a same-day appointment, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Learn more at http://www.lfchd.org/3rd-dose/
While there’s still a chance a fully vaccinated person can get COVID-19, symptoms will likely be less severe and the need for hospitalization is much smaller. Since February 2021, about 88% of Lexington’s COVID-19-related hospitalizations are in people who are unvaccinated or aren’t fully vaccinated.
The monthly totals of COVID-19 cases during the outbreak are:
• 110, March
• 143, April
• 507, May
• 793, June
• 1,702, July
• 2,538, August
• 2,804, September
• 2,736, October
• 6,070, November
• 5,991, December
• 6,155, January
• 2,694, February
• 1,314, March
• 1,027, April
- 689, May
- 287, June
- 1,331, July
- 5,435, August
Lexington’s COVID-19 numbers are updated Monday-Friday at lfchd.org.
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