Bell County reports fourth COVID-19 death Wednesday

Knox, Whitley, Laurel, McCreary and Bell County all reported new COVID-19 cases Wednesday with Bell County reporting its fourth COVID-19 death, which was an 81-year-old male.

The Bell County Health Department reported 11 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including five individual cases and six long term care cases.

On July 16, Bell County reported its first COVID-19 death, which was an 85-year-old male. Bell County reported its second COVID-19 fatality on July 23, which involved a 74-year-old female. On July 28, Bell County reported its third COVID-19 fatality, which involved a 68-year-old female.

Bell County now has 76 active cases, including nine, who are hospitalized: a 66-year-old male, a 74-year-old male, a 70-year-old female, an 83-year-old male, a 79-year-old female, a 72-year-old male, a 70-year-old male, a 75-year-old female and a 75-year-old male.

The Bell County Health Department reported two new cases Tuesday, four new cases Monday, five new cases Sunday, three new cases Saturday, three new cases Friday, and seven new cases Thursday. Bell County now has a total of 293 COVID-19 cases.

A total of 217 people have recovered from COVID-19 in Bell County.

Bell County was one of the last counties in the state to report a positive COVID-19 case with its first positive case reported on May 16. Prior to June 29, Bell County had only reported eight positive COVID-19 cases, and since that time a total of 285 additional cases have been reported.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported a total of four new COVID-19 cases Wednesday in addition to announcing that 49 positive COVID-19 cases had fully recovered and all close contacts had completed their isolation and quarantine time.

The Knox County Health Department also reported 12 new cases Tuesday, eight new cases Monday, seven new cases Friday, and eight cases Thursday.

Knox County has a total of 220 COVID-19 cases.

Between April 6 and May 30, Knox County reported 10 COVID-19 cases with all 10 patients having fully recovered by June 15. Since June 11, there have been 210 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Knox County.

Knox County reported its eighth COVID-19 fatality on July 23, which was the eighth patient to die from Christian Health Center in Corbin. The first five patients had pre-existing conditions. The status of the last three is unknown.

Out of the first 216 Knox County cases, 21 patients were under the age of 18, 45 patients were ages 18-30, 26 patients were ages 31-40, 26 patients were ages 41-50, 26 patients were ages 51-60, 13 patients were ages 61-70, 25 patients were ages 71-80, and 34 patients were over age 80.

As of Aug. 5, a total of 3,117 cases had been tested for COVID-19 in Knox County.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported four new cases COVID-19 cases Wednesday, who all tested positive with either PCR/Molecular or Antigen testing.

The Whitley County Health Department reported six new cases Tuesday, nine new cases Monday, five new cases Friday, and 12 new cases Thursday.

Whitley County now has a total of 145 COVID-19 cases, including 64 active cases. Three Whitley County residents are isolating in the hospital, and 61 Whitley County residents are isolating at home.

A total of 80 Whitley County patients have been released from isolation.

Between April 6 and May 17, Whitley County had 11 COVID-19 cases diagnosed, all of whom have been released from isolation.

Since June 8, Whitley County has had 134 additional cases diagnosed.

On July 21, Whitley County reported its only COVID-19 death.

So far, the majority of Whitley County cases have involved people ages 50 and under.

Out of the 145 Whitley County cases, 17 patients were under the age of 18, 10 patients were ages 18-20, 25 patients were ages 21-30, 33 patients were ages 31-40, 19 patients were ages 41-50, 14 patients were ages 51-60, 12 patients were ages 61-70, 13 patients were age 71-80, and two patients were over age 80.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported 10 new cases Wednesday, which ranged in age from a 23-year-old to a 75-year-old. Only one of the 10 new patients is hospitalized.

One previously reported case has now been hospitalized, four previously hospitalized cases have been released, and nine additional cases have recovered, the health department announced Wednesday.

Wednesday’s cases include: a 65-year-old female, who is hospitalized, a 75-year-old female, a 50-year-old male, a 30-year-old female, a 64-year-old female, a 37-year-old female, a 23-year-old female, a 37-year-old female, a 40-year-old male a 23-year-old female.

The Laurel County Health Department reported six new cases Tuesday, seven new cases Monday, eight new cases Saturday, six new cases Friday and 12 new cases Thursday.

The Laurel County Health Department has a total of 401 overall cases, including: 196 recovered cases, and 201 active cases, of which six are hospitalized, and 195 are isolating at home.

Laurel County has had four COVID-19 related deaths.

Between March 24 and June 4, there were 22 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Laurel County. Since June 9, there have been an additional 379 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the 401 Laurel County cases, 42 patients were under the age of 18,102 patients were ages 18-30, 66 patients were ages 31-40, 54 patients were ages 41-50, 55 patients were ages 51-60, 54 patients were ages 61-70, 18 patients were ages 71-80 and 10 patients were over age 80.

A total of 8,888 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Laurel County as of Aug. 3.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported three new COVID-19 cases in McCreary County Wednesday, including a 24-year-old female a 45-year-old female, and a 57-year-old female, who are self-isolating but still symptomatic.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported one new COVID-19 cases Tuesday in McCreary County, two new COVID-19 cases Monday, one new case Saturday, and three new COVID-19 cases in McCreary County Friday.

McCreary County has had a total of 41 COVID-19 cases, including 10 active cases, who are all in self-isolation, and 31 cases that have all recovered.

So far, McCreary County has had no COVID-19 deaths.

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 546 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including 21 new cases involving children ages five and under. Seven of those children are under the age of one-year-old, and one of those children is only 18 days old. In addition, Beshear reported one new death Wednesday.

Statewide there have been 32,741 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 752 total deaths from the virus. A total of more than 663,100 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and at least 8,467 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.

“Today’s number strongly suggests and I believe it’s evidence that face coverings are working,” Beshear said. “Proving that even when other parts of the country may be escalating out of control, that we can still control our own destiny here in Kentucky with a small act that shows we care about each other.”