Unmasked young people, out and about, are likely to create a surge in covid-19 cases in Kentucky, health experts say

A masked woman walked among entirely unmasked people at
restaurants in Lexington. (Herald-Leader photo by Alex Slitz)

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.

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.”