Fayette County Health Commissioner Kraig Humbaugh says there’s been a steady increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the Lexington area the past two to three weeks.
Humbaugh said there’s been, on average, about 20 cases a day. He says that excludes cases at the Federal Medical Center. With more people going back to work and getting out generally, Humbaugh noted it remains to be seen if it reaches a point of concern. The epidemiologist said that depends on community adherence to health guidelines. “If we’re not able to get compliance toward the rules for the new normal or get society to cooperate with us in terms of our case investigations and contact tracing, then we stand to see these number of cases continue to increase,” said Humbaugh.
Since Covid-19 is a new disease and immunity is not widespread, Humbaugh said it appears the next few months will not be a period of slowdown. “That may change if we have a time when we have a vaccine and more and more people are immune, then we may see some more seasonality to it, but right now when most of the population is still non-immune that probably why we haven’t seen the seasonal trend that we were hoping for this summer,” explained Humbaugh.
The epidemiologist said any decision to pull back on the easing of restrictions would most likely be made at the state level.
If you appreciate access to this important content during this global health emergency, please help us continue to provide public service journalism and information to Central and Eastern Kentucky communities. Please make your contribution to WEKU today.
