Fayette records 162 new COVID cases, numbers more like October

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – One of the lowest weekdays for new coronavirus cases in several weeks provides further encouragement the surge in Fayette County may be stabilizing.

The county confirmed 162 new cases Monday, bringing the county’s total to 20, 835, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s daily morning report Tuesday.

Monday’s cases matched a low number two Mondays ago and is closer to numbers in October than recent weeks when new cases were in the 200s.

The county recorded no additional deaths Monday, leaving the total at 143 since the outbreak began in March.

Health officials say the numbers aren’t any reason to relax.

“The last few days, we’ve been asked about the lower numbers. Any days the positive cases are down from the 300-400 from late November and early December is a good thing, but ‘down’ is relative – these are still much higher counts than in the summer and even two or three times what they were in October. Our ‘low days’ are higher than most of our high days in the fall, so we can’t put our guard down,” Health Department Communications Director Kevin Hall said.

“Plus, there are still more than 100 Lexington residents in hospitals from this. It’s too early for anyone to stop following the guidelines to keep this from spreading. The vaccine arrival is fantastic news, but until it’s widely available for the general public in 2021, we have to continue fighting this virus together,” Hall added.

According to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s daily report, the county has confirmed 3,432 new cases and 10 deaths through the first 14 days of December.

That’s more than all of August, September or October.

To help slow the spread of COVID-19, follow these guidelines:
• Wear a cloth face-covering in public
• Avoid close contact with others
• Wash your hands often
• Stay home if you are sick.

Lexington’s COVID-19 numbers, including charts with demographics, hospitalizations and more, are updated Monday-Saturday at lfchd.org.

• 110, March
• 143, April
• 507, May
• 793, June
• 1,702 July
• 2,538, August
• 2,804, September
• 2,736, October
• 6,070, November

The county reached the following thousand-case marks on these dates:

• 20,000: Dec. 10

• 19,000: Dec. 6
• 18,000: Dec. 2
• 17,000: Nov. 28
• 16,000: Nov. 24
• 15,000: Nov. 20
• 14,000: Nov. 16
• 13,000: Nov. 11
• 12,000: Nov. 5
• 11,000: Oct. 29
• 10,000: Oct. 20
• 9,000: Oct. 6
• 8,000: Sept. 22
• 7,000: Sept. 11
• 6,000: Sept. 2
• 5,000: Aug. 23
• 4,000: Aug. 10
• 3,000: July 28
• 2,000: July 12
• 1,000: June 10
• 1: March 8