LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Take the spring graduation season, throw in Mother’s and Memorial Day, add a few early summer vacations to the mix and you end up where we are now. Fayette County is back in the red as it pertains to our COVID-19 positivity rate.
“This morning from the end of yesterday we reported a total of 154 new cases, which takes our seven-day average to 156 per day,” said Christina King from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.
That daily case average might not seem like very much in a county with several hundred thousand people, but it is when you consider where we were around the time the horses were being brought to Churchill Downs.
“A month and a half, to two months ago were only at 32 cases (average per day),” King noted.
It’s been a steady rise, and it’s why testing sites like the one at Legend’s Field and a vaccine clinic like the one at Kroger Field (green lot near Nutter Fieldhouse) are operating once again.
“What these boosters can do is to help prevent transmission, so it’s extremely important to have these,” said Ryan Babb, a pharmacist with the University of Kentucky’s Retail and Community Pharmacy.
The clinic saw quite a bit of traffic last weekend as the KHSAA baseball, softball and track & field tournaments were being staged on campus. It’s why they decided to do it again this Friday and Saturday from 9:30-6:00 pm.
“It is free, still, so no insurance information is required,” Babb added. He also noted that you must be eligible for the vaccine or booster and that everyone should bring their COVID-19 vaccine card. You’ll also be given a $25 gas card when you complete the process.
At the Legend’s Field testing site, Nicole Merz was taking a short break following a busy morning of testing. When we spoke only a few people were waiting for the rapid test results. The rapid test costs $68. A PCR test is $160 and provides a more accurate result.
“We see this about every three months,” Merz said. “That’s unfortunately when our anti-bodies begin to wean, so people will get COVID, (and) have those (antibodies) drop off. We also have a sub-variant of Omicron. Every subvariant makes you susceptible to being infected again,” she continued.
The CDC is recommending, but no one is mandating, that masks be worn inside around the county given our status.
“It boils down to wanting to do the best you can not only for yourself, or your own family, but all of those around you,” King said.
