Bell, Laurel, Knox and Whitley counties all report additional cases Monday

Bell, Laurel, Knox and Whitley County are all reported additional COVID-19 cases Monday.

The Bell County Health Department reported 21 additional cases Monday, including four individual independent cases and 17 long term care cases. These new cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Bell County to 249.

Bell County now has 106 active cases, including six, who are hospitalized: a 71-year-old female, a 95-year-old female, a 68-year-old female, a 70-year-old male, a 79-year-old male, and a 72-year-old male.

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

The Bell County Health Department reported five COVID-19 cases Sunday, seven cases Saturday, six new COVID-19 cases Friday, eight new cases Thursday, and 32 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, including 13 individual cases and 19 long-term care cases.

A total of 143 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 241 additional cases have been reported.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department announced Monday that 19 total patients had been diagnosed with COVID-19 between Saturday and Monday, who ranged in age from a 4-year-old to a 65-year-old. All are recovering at home.

The Laurel County Health Department also reported Monday that 20 additional cases had recovered.

On Saturday, nine new cases were diagnosed, including: a 56-year-old male, a 21-year-old female, a 40-year-old female, a 64-year-old male, a 26-year-old female, a 31-year-old female, a 31-year-old male, a 5-year-old male and a 40-year-old female.

On Sunday, five new cases were diagnosed, including: a 22-year-old female, a 65-year-old male, a 49-year-old male, a 35-year-old female and a 60-year-old female.

On Monday, five new cases were diagnosed, including: a 17-year-old male, a 4-year-old male, a 62-year-old male, a 47-year-old female, and a 53-year-old female.

Laurel County now has a total of 333 COVID-19 cases out of which 134 people have recovered. Laurel County has 195 active cases out of which 186 cases are isolating at home, and nine cases are isolating in the hospital.

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 311 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the 333 Laurel County cases, 34 patients were under the age of 18, 81 patients were ages 18-30, 56 patients were ages 31-40, 45 patients were ages 41-50, 44 patients were ages 51-60, 48 patients were ages 61-70, 16 patients were ages 71-80, and nine patients were over age 80.

A total of 8,094 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Laurel County as of July 27.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported five new cases Monday with one positive being a child. This brings the total number of cases in Knox County to 179.

“We always want to encourage everyone to use proper preventative measures, avoid large gatherings, wear a face mask, cover your cough or sneeze, and stay home if you are ill,” said Knox County Health Department Director Rebecca Rains. “All epidemiological tracing and contact information are ongoing with these cases. Any close contacts will be notified by the Knox County Health Department.”

The Knox County Health Department reported 10 new cases Friday, four new cases Thursday, and five additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday.

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 169 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Knox County.

The Knox County Health Department reported Monday that it has 84 active cases, and that 82 cases have recovered.

It also announced that 29 positive COVID-19 cases had fully recovered and all close contacts had completed their isolation and quarantine time.

Knox County reported its eighth COVID-19 fatality Thursday, which was the eighth patient to die from Christian Health Center in Corbin. The first five patients had pre-existing conditions.

Out of the first 174 Knox County cases, 17 patients were under the age of 18, 33 patients were ages 18-30, 25 patients were ages 31-40, 17 patients were ages 41-50, 16 patients were ages 51-60, 12 patients were ages 61-70, 21 patients were ages 71-80, and 33 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department announced Monday that there were five new COVID-19 cases reported Monday, and that there had been four new COVID-19 cases reported Sunday.

The Whitley County Health Department reported three new confirmed cases Friday, four new cases Thursday, six new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including four confirmed cases and two probable cases.

A confirmed case means that a PCR test has identified virus genetic material, which usually comes from nose or mouth swabs, according to a graphic from the Whitley County Health Department.

A probable case is defined as a person meeting clinical criteria and epidemiologic evidence with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19; or a person meeting presumptive laboratory evidence and either clinical criteria or epidemiologic evidence; or a person meeting vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Whitley County now has a total of 89 COVID-19 cases, including 34 active cases. Three Whitley County residents are isolating in the hospital, and 31 Whitley County residents are isolating at home.

A total of 54 Whitley County patients have been released from isolation. On July 21, Whitley County reported its only COVID-19 death.

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 78 additional cases diagnosed.

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

Out of the 80 Whitley County cases, seven patients were under the age of 18, 10 patients were ages 18-20, 15 patients were ages 21-30, 20 patients were ages 31-40, 14 patients were ages 41-50, 10 patients were ages 51-60, seven patients were ages 61-70, and six patients were age 71-80.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland Health Department reported two additional COVID-19 cases Saturday in McCreary County, including a 45-year-old male, who is still symptomatic, and a 28-year-old male, whose symptom status is unknown.

The Lake Cumberland Health Department reported one new case in McCreary County Sunday, who is a 64-year-old male, who is still symptomatic.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported three new COVID-19 cases Thursday in McCreary County, including: a 43-year old female and a 31-year-old female, who are both symptomatic, and a 43-year-old male, whose symptom status is unknown.

As of Sunday evening, McCreary County had 27 total COVID-19 cases, and seven active COVID-19 cases, who are all in self-isolation.

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

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 522 new COVID-19 cases Monday, including 21 new cases involving children ages five and under. In addition, he reported nine new deaths Monday.

Statewide there have been 27,601 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 709 total deaths from the virus. A total of 588,926 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and more than 7,466 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.

“I don’t want to be a state where casket-makers are running out of their caskets, that they’re loaded into 18-wheelers to come to us. I don’t want to be a state that has to order one of these freezer trucks because their morgues run out of space. I don’t want to be a state that runs out of ICU beds and one of your loved ones doesn’t have space. I don’t want to be a state where a doctor has to look at 10 young people, knowing they have three ventilators, and possibly make a decision on who lives and who dies,” said Beshear, who announced additional COVID-19 restrictions Monday. “By taking action right now, we can keep all of that from happening.”