Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton says the reduction of the inmate population over time at the Fayette County jail may help reduce the spread of a current outbreak there. The mayor gave a COVID-19 update this Wednesday afternoon.
Gorton said 60 inmates had tested positive as of Wednesday. “We have the space to medically isolate the positives and we have the space to spread out those in quarantine who were exposed or potentially exposed,” said Gorton.
Gorton said there are new COVID-19 testing sites in the Lexington area. She said the neighborhood mobile testing program has been successful with more than seven thousand tests conducted. Council Member Jennifer Reynolds asked about ways to reduce the wait at the testing site. Division of Emergency Management Director Pat Dugger noted the process is being streamlined with more technology and additional testing labs would also help.
Fayette County Health Commissioner Kraig Humbaugh said a plateau of coronavirus cases is not yet being seen in Lexington. During the update, Humbaugh said the number of cases the last several weeks has continued to rise.
The epidemiologist noted it will be important to promote flu shots come September. Humbaugh said early on the symptoms of COVID and the flu can be similar and cause confusion. “We want to try to avoid that as much as possible, protect people from the flu and that will also help to decrease the demand for testing because of people who have the flu they may think they have COVID and that may increase our testing demand. So, these are both very much inter-related, explained Humbaugh.
As far as a coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Humbaugh believes widely available distribution of such protection is probably still several months away.?
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