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Fayette health officials say flu is rapidly spreading while COVID is holding steady

Fayette County Health Department
Stu Johnson
Fayette County Health Department

The COVID activity in the Lexington area remains at a steady rate. There were 220 new cases of coronavirus, as reported to the Fayette Health Department. Spokeswoman Christina King said that’s been about average for the last month, not trending down or rising. She noted home testing results don’t make it to the health agency but the testing at doctors’ offices is recorded.

“If you’re testing positive at home and you’ve got symptoms, you still need to check in with your primary care physician to make sure your symptoms aren’t getting out of control and that you’re staying healthy and doing what you need to do to get on the mend,” said King.

King said it is still important to get tested when COVID symptoms appear to better assure a more accurate count. With COVID still present along with flu and R-S-V, King added wearing a mask indoors can provide another layer of protection.

While COVID-19 is currently taking a backseat in many parts of Kentucky, King said flu is running rampant. The health department gets weekly reports each Wednesday. But, King said the most recent report revealed lab-confirmed influenza cases quadrupled from two weeks ago to last week.

“The cases range in age from nine months to 101 years old. All cases were PCR-positive for influenza A. And only ten of those cases were vaccinated this season. So, we really need people to get that flu vaccine,” said King.

Those ten vaccinations were out of 145 total flu cases for the week-long report on November ninth.

Stu Johnson retired from WEKU in November, 2024 after reporting for the station for 40 years. Stu's primary beat was Lexington/Fayette government.
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