Weekend Update: Bell, McCreary counties report additional COVID-19 cases

Bell and McCreary counties reported additional COVID-19 cases Saturday and Sunday.

The Bell County Health Department reported five additional COVID-19 cases Sunday afternoon, and seven new cases Saturday.

These new cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Bell County to 228.

Bell County now has 95 active cases, including six, who are hospitalized: a 71-year-old female, a 95-year-old female, a 68-year-old female, an 87-year-old female, a 41-year-old female, and a 70-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 six new COVID-19 cases Friday, eight new cases Thursday, 32 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, including 13 individual cases and 19 long-term care cases, eight new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, and six new cases Monday.

A total of 133 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 220 additional cases have been reported.

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.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported seven new cases Friday, which range in age from a two-year-old to a 66-year-old.

Friday’s cases include: a 44-year-old female, a 66-year-old male, a 58-year-old female, a 19-year-old female, a 50-year-old male, a two-year-old male, and a 20-year-old male. All seven patients are recovering at home.

The Laurel County health department reported 18 new cases Thursday, five new cases Wednesday, seven new cases Tuesday, 10 new cases Monday, and eight new cases Sunday.

Laurel County now has a total of 314 COVID-19 cases out of which 114 people have recovered. Laurel County has 196 active cases out of which 187 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 292 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the 314 Laurel County cases, 31 patients were under the age of 18, 78 patients were ages 18-30, 51 patients were ages 31-40, 43 patients were ages 41-50, 41 patients were ages 51-60, 45 patients were ages 61-70, 16 patients were ages 71-80, and nine patients were over age 80.

A total of 7,081 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Laurel County as of July 20.

(Editor’s note: The Laurel County Health Department no longer releases COVID-19 numbers on the weekend, and will release its weekend figures when it releases Monday’s totals.)

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday afternoon, and announced that it was removing one of the five cases that were reported Thursday after clarifying the current county of residence.

The Whitley County Health Department reported six new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including four confirmed cases and two probable cases, four new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, including one confirmed case and three probable cases, six new cases Sunday.

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 80 COVID-19 cases, including 25 active cases. Two Whitley County residents are isolating in the hospital, and 23 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 69 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, 14 patients were ages 21-30, 16 patients were ages 31-40, 12 patients were ages 41-50, eight patients were ages 51-60, seven patients were ages 61-70, and six patients were age 71-80.

(Editor’s note: The Whitley County Health Department no longer releases COVID-19 numbers during the weekend, and will release any weekend numbers when it issues its update Monday afternoon.)

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported 10 new COVID-19 cases Friday, including four children. This brings the total number of cases in Knox County to 174.

“We cannot encourage everyone enough to always use proper preventive measures, avoid large gatherings, wear a face mask, cover your cough or sneeze, and stay home if you are ill. All epidemiological tracing and contact information are ongoing with these cases. Any close contacts will be notified by the Knox County Health Department,” said Knox County Health Department Director Rebecca Rains.

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

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 164 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Knox County.

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 119 Knox County cases, five patients were under the age of 18, 19 patients were ages 18-30, 14 patients were ages 31-40, nine patients were ages 41-50, 12 patients were ages 51-60, 10 patients were ages 61-70, 17 patients were ages 71-80, and 33 patients were over age 80.

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 836 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, including 22 new cases involving children ages five and under. In addition, he reported five new deaths Saturday.

On Sunday, Beshear reported 316 new COVID-19 cases, including eight new cases involving children ages five and under. He also reported four new deaths.

As of Sunday afternoon, statewide there have been 27,079 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 700 total deaths from the virus. Over 575,000 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and more than 7,400 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.

“I want you to know that the White House and Kentucky state government are in complete agreement that the escalation of cases is going to require us to take some new steps,” Beshear said Sunday. “We’re going to announce those steps tomorrow and we’ll talk through the what and the why behind each one.”

One week ago, on July 19, the state reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in one day at 979 cases.

“Kentucky is in that spot now where if we don’t act, we will look a lot like states in the South that are facing devastating consequences,” Beshear said. “Thankfully today’s numbers are lower than what we’ve seen recently, but we know less testing comes in on Sundays.”