‘Going out in Louisville is dangerous’: Health officials say city completely in red zone

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - COVID is rampant in Kentucky and is still very dominant in Louisville. The city’s positivity rate is currently sitting at just over 13 percent.

Louisville’s mayor and health officials continued to remind the public during an update Tuesday: “Vaccines work and are safe.”

Dr. Sarah Moyer with Metro Public Health and Wellness said going out in Louisville is dangerous, period. The city is completely in the red or double red, and it does not have the health capacity to take care of more people.

That means it’s back to the basic safety measures: masks inside and within six feet of people outside.

With flu season also approaching, Moyer warned it will be one of the worst since more people are interacting with one another.

However, she said you can get the COVID and flu shot at the same time.

“Flu and COVID are both diseases hard on our respiratory systems,” Moyer said. “Our hospitals are already experiencing great stress and strain due to the high number of people hospitalized due to COVID.”

Moyer said 5,000 new people in the city were vaccinated last week. That’s a decline from previous weeks.

More than 90 percent of the patients in hospitals are unvaccinated.

Moyer reminded the community that vaccinations are free and being in the hospital is not. COVID bills can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden directed the Labor Department to enforce new vaccine mandates or weekly COVID tests for all businesses with more than 100 employees.

If a person chooses to opt-out of company’s orders, officials said don’t expect an easy pass with unemployment. You could fall under volunteered unemployment and get nothing at all.

The mayor and officials recommend businesses get ahead of the game.

“The surge is driven by Delta,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Imbedded by the fact that not enough people in our community have been vaccinated. This is creating more uncertainties about what people should be doing to keep themselves safe.”

Moyer acknowledged vaccination and testing sites are understaffed right now because teams are in the hospitals focused on patients. Right now, the only recommendation is to keep trying other sites.

Copyright 2021 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.