Laurel County reports fifth COVID-19 fatality Thursday; Barbourville Walmart employee tests positive for virus

Whitley, McCreary, Bell, Knox and Laurel counties all reported additional COVID-19 cases Thursday with Laurel County reporting its fifth COVID-19 fatality. In addition, one of the new Knox County cases worked at the Barbourville Walmart.

“Our condolences go out to the family of the 91-year old male who was one of our previously reported cases,” the Laurel County Health Department stated in a release.

The Laurel County Health Department reported 10 newly confirmed cases Thursday, who are all recovering at home.

The Laurel County Health Department also reported two additional previously confirmed cases that did not make the list, but have both fully recovered. The health department also discovered a duplicate from its previously reported case list that has now been removed from Laurel County’s total number of COVID-19 cases. One previously reported case is now hospitalized.

Thursday’s cases included: a 35-year old-female, a 16-year-old female, a 10-year-old female, a 25-year-old male, a 13-year-old female, a 23-year-old female, a 37-year-old female, a 15-year-old male, a 61-year-old female and a 23-year-old female.

The previously confirmed cases that did not make the list, but have both now fully recovered, were a 16-year-old male and a 32-year-old male.

The Laurel County Health Department reported 10 new cases Wednesday, six new cases Tuesday, seven new cases Monday, eight new cases Saturday, and six new cases Friday.

The Laurel County Health Department has a total of 412 overall cases, including: 198 recovered cases, and 209 active cases, of which six are hospitalized, and 203 are isolating at home.

Between March 24 and June 4, there were 22 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Laurel County. Since June 9, there have been an additional 390 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the 412 Laurel County cases, 47 patients were under the age of 18, 104 patients were ages 18-30, 69 patients were ages 31-40, 54 patients were ages 41-50, 55 patients were ages 51-60, 55 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.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported nine new COVID-19 cases Thursday with one of these positives involving a child, and another involving a Barbourville Walmart employee.

“Knox County Health Department is working closely with management to ensure all employees are following proper recommendations. The employee, who tested positive, as well as others in their immediate work area are self-quarantining,” said Knox County Health Department Director Rebecca Rains.

Those, who patronized the Barbourville Walmart on Monday, Aug. 3, Tuesday, Aug. 4, or Wednesday, Aug. 5, between the hours of 7 a.m. – 1 p.m. are encouraged to monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.

If you become ill and show signs of COVID-19 get tested.

The Knox County Health Department also reported four new cases Wednesday, 12 new cases Tuesday, eight new cases Monday, and seven new cases Friday. In addition, the health department announced Wednesday that 49 positive COVID-19 cases had fully recovered.

Knox County has a total of 229 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 219 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.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported seven new COVID-19 cases Thursday, including six individual, independent cases, and one long term care case. On Wednesday, the Bell County Health Department reported six long term care cases and five individual cases.

Bell County now has 81 active cases, including 10 who are hospitalized: a 66-year-old male, a 74-year-old male, a 70-year-old male, an 83-year-old male, a 79-year-old female, a 72-year-old male, a 73-year-old female, a 75-year-old female, a 75-year-old male and a 69-year-old female.

The Bell County Health Department reported two new cases Tuesday, four new cases Monday, five new cases Sunday, three new cases Saturday, and three new cases Friday. Bell County now has a total of 300 COVID-19 cases.

A total of 219 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 292 additional cases have been reported.

The Bell County Health Department reported its fourth COVID-19 fatality on Aug. 5, which involved the death of an 81-year-old male.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported eight new COVID-19 cases Thursday.

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

Whitley County now has a total of 153 COVID-19 cases, including 72 active cases. Three Whitley County residents are isolating in the hospital, and 69 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 142 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 153 Whitley County cases, 19 patients were under the age of 18, 10 patients were ages 18-20, 27 patients were ages 21-30, 33 patients were ages 31-40, 19 patients were ages 41-50, 15 patients were ages 51-60, 13 patients were ages 61-70, 14 patients were age 71-80, and three patients were over age 80.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported Thursday that one COVID-19 patient in McCreary County had been released from isolation, and that two additional patients had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The two new McCreary County patients are a 31-year-old female, who is self-isolated but still symptomatic, and a 33-year-old male, who is self-isolated but asymptomatic.

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 case 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 43 COVID-19 cases, including 11 active cases, who are all in self-isolation, and 32 cases that have all recovered.

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

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 516 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, including 12 new cases involving children ages five and under. In addition, Beshear reported eight new deaths Thursday.

Statewide there have been 33,254 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 760 total deaths from the virus. A total of more than 674,756 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and at least 8,523 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.

“We appear to not just be slowing, but we hope stopping any escalation that we’ve seen. It’s further evidence that wearing that facial covering is truly helping Kentucky in so many different ways – our people, our economy, our kids,” said Beshear. “So, let’s keep it up. I believe that if we continue to do this, we can see even better numbers than what we have now.”