LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two weeks out from the Kentucky Derby now, some in Louisville have wondered if there'd be an impact seen in COVID-19 cases. According to the experts, new cases are likely from a multitude of gatherings.
UofL Health Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor said cases have increased, but it's likely due to multitude of different gathers.
"It might still be early to call it a surge, but we're seeing a rise in cases, at least cases locally," Briones-Pryor said, adding that there currently isn't a corresponding increase in hospitalizations.
"Our cases go up every time we have a reason to gather as a community. So, Derby was a big one, and it was on the same weekend as Mother's Day, and then now we've had graduation after graduation, and we'll continue to have graduations, and the next thing you know, it'll be Fourth of July."
Briones-Pryor is hopeful that numbers will slow and drop off before increasing Jefferson County into the red zone and causing an events to be cancelled.
"I know that at the state level, federal level, even locally, we watch those numbers pretty closely," she said. "And the big thing, again, is we also watch our hospitalizations and our utilization in the hospital. Even though those cases go up, are those people really sick? How sick are they? And it all kind of depends. If we get back into what we saw with Delta in the fall of last year, where people were really sick, it probably could impact events. But we don't want to get there and we hope that it doesn't get to that point."
With Memorial Day coming up and likely many gatherings throughout the summer, Briones-Pryor suggests washing your hands, staying home if you feel sick and getting vaccinated if you're able.
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