Kentucky is likely to see a surge in coronavirus cases driven by young people spreading it in bars, health experts are warning.
“I think we’re going to see a surge. I don’t think there’s any reason to think we won’t. That’s what’s happening everywhere else,” Dr. Mark Dougherty of Lexington, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist, told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
restaurants in Lexington. (Herald-Leader photo by Alex Slitz)
People between 20 and 39 account for more than a third of Kentucky’s cases, reporter Alex Acquisto notes. They’re the least likely to be hospitalized or die from it, but they can spread it for days without having any symptoms.
University of Kentucky epidemiologist Kathleen Winter told Acquisto, “For the most part, young people are not as concerned about their own safety, and I think they’re pretty cavalier about their concern of getting the virus.”
But they need to remember that they can spread it to others, especially their elders, she said:
“People are not just staying completely isolated. They’re coming back home, staying with parents and grandparents. … The most important thing young people can do is stay away from vulnerable individuals.”
Dr. Ryan Stanton of Lexington, an emergency room physician who works with COVID-19 patients, told Acquisto that the low rate of hospitalization among young people has given them “a false sense of security.”
Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.
Al Cross is professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Kentucky. He was the longest-serving political writer for the Louisville Courier Journal (1989-2004) and national president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2001-02. He joined the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010. The NKyTribune is the home for his commentary which is also offered to other publications.
