Jennie Stuart

As Christian County health officials pivot to focus on mass vaccination, the site will be open for testing on a more limited basis.

For the week of Dec. 18 through 24, the hospital reached record highs for the total number of inpatient beds occupied by coronavirus patients and its overall proportion of COVID-19 patients.

Jennie Stuart Health has received 500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and distribution has begun among its frontline workers.

Three of the last four weeks of data show that Jennie Stuart's ratio of COVID-19 patients to total beds was at or above the 20% threshold that puts a hospital under “extreme stress.” For the most recent week available, the ratio of 16%.

Representatives from three hospitals in Lexington are urging citizens to avoid using emergency departments for non-symptomatic COVID-19 testing.

On Saturday, carry-out customers dined on boxed meals inside The Village Restaurant's parking lot tent at Canton Street and Navajo Trail. Two sides of the tent were still open only partially — the main point of dispute between the owners and health officials.

The letter, which is signed by Jennie Stuart CEO Eric Lee, Medical Staff President Michael Murray and Medical Group Vice President Keith Toms, pleads with the public to take extra measures to be diligent in the fight against coronavirus in order to avoid a "situation where hospitals are full."

The retired educator died Wednesday at Jennie Stuart Medical Center with COVID-19.

The local testing site — like many throughout the state — is funded, in part, by CARES Act dollars, which expire on Dec. 30.

Wallace, who began teaching in the early 1970s and retired as an assistant superintendent, was hospitalized with the virus a week before Thanksgiving.

In light of an escalation in COVID-19 cases and state recommendations to avoid activities that could result in more infections, officials decided to put the celebration on hold for a year.

On most days, the public’s knowledge of COVID-19 patients in the Hopkinsville hospital is limited to the number who are being treated, but Wallace's son wanted to share more so his story might help people understand how dangerous the virus can be.