Lexington, we need your help! Contact tracing is confidential and is an important part of limiting the spread of COVID-19, and we need you to cooperate with public health agencies when we call. This includes being willing to discuss potential contacts and isolating/quarantining as advised. With phased re-openings and increased social mixing, your help with contact tracing is a key in helping Lexington be well!

You can learn more at Kentucky’s COVID-19 page and in this video from the Kentucky Department for Public Health:

June 8, 2020 – COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly in Lexington: there have been 56 new cases confirmed since Saturday, bringing the city’s total to 928. None of the new cases are from the outbreak at the Federal Medical Center, meaning COVID-19 is spreading throughout the entire city. Based on our case investigations, the protests are not contributing to the rise in cases we’ve seen this week and the couple weeks prior.

Our recommendations about preventing the spread of COVID-19 remain the same no matter the reason anyone is going out into the public: practice physical distancing by staying at least 6 feet apart from anyone not in your household, wear a cloth mask covering your face and nose, and wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

All this rain can lead to flooded homes, which means an increase in health risks! Please use caution when cleaning out flooded homes. Floodwater can affect homes by damaging materials, introducing unknown contaminants including sewage and creating dampness throughout the home. Please take the following steps during flooding:

• Keep children and pets out of the affected area until cleanup is completed.

• Wear rubber boots, rubber gloves and goggles during cleanup of affected area. Thoroughly clean all hard surfaces with hot water and laundry or dish detergent. After completing cleanup, wash your hands with soap and water. Wash clothes worn during cleanup in hot water and detergent, separately from uncontaminated clothes and linens.

• Remove and discard any item that cannot be washed and disinfected. Also, remove items that have been wet for more than 48 hours and cannot be thoroughly cleaned and dried (these items can remain a source of mold growth and should be removed from the home).

• Prevent water outdoors from reentering your home. Water from gutters or the roof should drain away from the house; the ground around the house should slope away from the house to keep basements and crawl spaces dry. Ensure that crawl spaces in basements have proper draining to limit water seepage; ventilate to allow area to dry out.

• Floodwater often contains infectious organisms, including intestinal bacteria. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, muscle aches and fever. Most cases of sickness from flood conditions are caused by ingesting contaminated food or water.

• Seek immediate medical attention if you become injured or ill during cleanup.

Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Department for Public Health have provided guidance for businesses that are re-opening. You can find them at kycovid19.ky.gov and on our website. This includes requirements for restaurants: Healthy At Work Restaurants.

USDA best practices for restaurants can be found here: Retail Food Best Practices Fact Sheet.

The FDA has also released information to help guide restaurants.

More COVID-19 testing slots are now open in Lexington! Gov. Andy Beshear announced the opening of registration next week for Kroger drive-up testing 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday, May 4-Friday, May 8, at Bluegrass Community & Technical College, 500 Newtown Pike. Registration can be made at www.krogerhealth.com/covidtesting or by calling 1-888-852-2567, option 1, then option 3. Testing is for anyone who needs it — you do not have to show symptoms!

Updated April 20, 2020, to include information about wearing masks.

As part of our COVID-19 response, everyone who enters our building at 650 Newtown Pike will be screened with a series of questions and a temperature check. Visitors to our Public Health Clinic or WIC Clinic must wear a cloth or surgical mask. If you do not have one when you arrive, one will be provided for you.

We have also changed a number of our in-person public health services in the interest of social distancing and because of limited staff availability. Before visiting us, please review the following to see if you need to be on site:

• WIC visits will no longer be in-person and will now be held over the phone. Please call 859-288-2483 with any questions or for more information. If you have an existing WIC appointment, you DO NOT need to call to reschedule; someone on our staff will call you. We will continue to accept new WIC clients during this time. To learn more about WIC, visit lexingtonhealthdepartment.org/women-infants-and-children/.
• Public Health Clinic services will be limited and available only as same-day appointments – you must call ahead of time as walk-ins will not be accepted. Please call 859-288-2483 to make an appointment. Note: this will not affect our needle-exchange program or harm reduction services at this time.
• In-person food handler certifications are suspended until further notice. The certification is still available online at lexingtonhealthdepartment.org/food-handler-certification/.
• Vital Statistics (birth and death records) will be closed to walk-in visitors. If you need assistance with these records, please call 859-899-2226.

• We will not accept in-person requests for medical records, protected health information or requests for immunization records. Please use this link to make an online request: https://tinyurl.com/s4b6qh2. We also offer this authorization to release/receive/review protected health information: https://tinyurl.com/wnkg7sw.

We appreciate the community’s patience and understanding as we continue helping Lexington be well while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s Board of Health has selected Jon Parker as the 2020 Dr. Rice C. Leach Public Health Hero. The award is given annually to individuals who have demonstrated their dedication to improving the health of Lexington residents. The winner is announced each April as part of National Public Health Week (April 6-10, 2020).

Parker is the executive director of AVOL Kentucky, Inc., a statewide organization whose mission is to “collaborate with communities to END HIV in the Commonwealth.” Parker has led HIV prevention teams across the state of Kentucky for more than three decades, including during the peak of the HIV epidemic in the 1990s. He holds a Master’s Degree in social work from the University of Kentucky.

Parker served on the original steering committee for AVOL Kentucky’s Solomon House, a long-term community residence for people with AIDS. Parker joined AVOL Kentucky in 2015, at a time when the board of directors was looking to move the organization into a more sustainable trajectory. AVOL has now expanded its mission to serve more medically vulnerable populations in the area of stable and affordable housing.

During his tenure at AVOL Kentucky, Parker has organized strategic planning efforts, created quality, low-income accessible housing for the medically vulnerable, expanded prevention services and enhanced outreach and empowerment for at-risk populations in Lexington. He has led events including the AIDS 5K Walk/Run and “Dining Out for Life,” AVOL Kentucky’s largest annual fundraiser.

Parker will be recognized at a future Board of Health meeting. He will also be honored during a Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council meeting. The awards are typically presented in April but are being postponed because of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previously known as the Public Health Hero Award, the Board of Health renamed the award in 2016 in memory of the late Dr. Rice C. Leach, Lexington’s former Commissioner of Health who spent more than 50 years as a public health physician. Leach died April 1, 2016.

Past winners include Mark Johnson (2019), Dr. Svetla Slavova (2018), Reginald Thomas (2017), Dr. Rice C. Leach (2016), Dr. Susan Pollack and Marian F. Guinn (2015), the Rev. Willis Polk and Baby Health Service (2014), Anita Courtney and Teens Against Tobacco Use (2013); Vickie Blevins and Jay McChord (2012); Jill Chenault-Wilson and Dr. Malkanthie McCormick (2011); Dr. Jay Perman (2010); the Lexington Lions Club (2009); Dr. David Stevens and the late Dr. Doane Fischer (2008); Dr. Ellen Hahn, Mary Alice Pratt and Therese Moseley (2007); Dr. Andrew Moore and Rosa Martin (2006); Jan Brucato and Dragana Zaimovic (2005); and Dr. John Michael Moore, Ellen Parks and Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (2004). Dr. Robert Lam received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

For additional information, like the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LFCHD, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LFCHD and Instagram at @lexpublichealth.

To make it easier for you to find all the information about COVID-19 for Lexington, we’ve created a special page with essential information. The page will be updated regularly, so please keep checking back as we provide information on COVID-19 as part of helping Lexington be well: COVID-19 and Lexington.

MARCH 23, 2020: The first death related to COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus) in Lexington has been confirmed, Mayor Linda Gorton and Commissioner of Health Dr. Kraig Humbaugh reported today. The victim was a person in their 80s with underlying health conditions. Additional details about the person cannot be provided because of medical privacy laws.

“This is a sad day for our city and especially for the family and friends of this victim,” Mayor Gorton said. “Let’s all make sure our elderly neighbors are cared for and protected. And let’s do everything we can to slow down this virus.”

The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department now believes that sustained person-to-person spread of COVID-19 is occurring in Lexington because not all new cases can be connected to previous cases or to travel outside of the community. Although the number of cases is still low, cases are expected to increase. In order to slow transmission of COVID-19, persons should avoid any unnecessary contact with others and stay at home when sick. COVID-19 is thought to be primarily spread through close contact with those who are infected.

The following social distancing tips should be followed:

• Stay at home as much as possible.
• Make sure you have access to medications and supplies in case you are advised to stay home.
• When you go out in public, keep away from others who are sick, limit close contact and wash your hands often.
• Avoid crowds.

The health department offered these tips to continue to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Practice social-distancing when at all possible.

COVID-19 is an emerging disease and the health department is staying up-to-date on the latest information.

To help answer the community’s questions about COVID-19, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department is operating a call center for members of the public. Questions can be asked by calling (859) 899-2222 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily or emailing COVID19@lfchd.org. Additional information, including frequently asked questions, can be found at lfchd.org and on the LFCHD social media accounts. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LFCHD, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LFCHD and Instagram at @lexpublichealth.

The City is also providing updates on lexingtonky.gov. Click on COVID-19 information.