The state recorded 456 more cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, virtually guaranteeing that it will report the highest weekly number of cases once figures are checked and adjusted.
The seven-day rolling average of new cases was 733, and the unadjusted number of cases for the week was more than 5,100. The highest number for any of the state’s official Monday-to-Sunday reporting weeks has been 4,742, Aug. 31-Sept. 6.
“We know we must do better if we want to continue on the path toward regaining the parts of our lives that have been on hold,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press release. “If we want to protect each other and our economy, if we want to get our kids back to school, the message is clear for Team Kentucky: Wear a mask, maintain social distance, wash your hands regularly and avoid crowds.”
Neighborhoods around the University of Kentucky campus were filled Saturday afternoon “with large groups of young people, most of whom were not wearing masks,” Karla Ward reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader . “Scores of students attended parties in yards in the area around Elizabeth Street,” as the UK football team played its opening game in Auburn University.
On Saturday, Lexington reported 110 new coronavirus cases, exactly half of whom were college students. Ward noted concern that cases from the campuses are keeping Fayette County from returning to in-person schooling, as most counties will Monday.
Nikki Fast Pollock, who lives in a neighborhood near Kroger Field at UK, told Ward that seeing students at parties without masks or social distancing is “just kind of like a slap in the face.” Ward reports, “She said her son started kindergarten this year, and she’s had to explain to him that maybe he’ll get to go to school later, but he has to learn on the computer first.”
University spokesman Jay Blanton “said UK and Lexington police have been sharing information about reports of large gatherings, and university officials are ‘following up with property managers’ when they get reports about specific addresses where parties are being held,” Ward reports. Blanton said about 500 students attended a socially distant football watch party at the UK baseball stadium.
“Students who violate UK’s social distancing policy, even if the violation is off campus, can face consequences ranging from a warning to suspension or expulsion,” Ward notes. “So far this year, UK has found about 100 students guilty of violating the rules.”
(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.
