Knox, Laurel, Bell, McCreary, Whitley counties all report new COVID-19 cases Friday, but 4 out of the 5 counties report 3 or fewer cases

Knox, Laurel, Bell, McCreary and Whitley counties all reported new COVID-19 cases Friday with four of the five counties reporting three or fewer new cases.

The Knox County Health Department reported seven new COVID-19 cases Friday, two new cases Thursday, eight new cases Wednesday, seven new cases Tuesday, and 16 new cases Monday.

Knox County has a total of 272 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 262 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Knox County.

As of Aug. 13, 84 cases were still active, 172 had recovered, and nine had died with the last COVID-19 death happening on Aug. 12.

Out of the first 265 Knox County cases, 28 patients were under the age of 18, 51 patients were ages 18-30, 33 patients were ages 31-40, 31 patients were ages 41-50, 37 patients were ages 51-60, 22 patients were ages 61-70, 29 patients were ages 71-80, and 34 patients were over age 80.

As of Aug. 14, a total of 3,540 cases have been tested for COVID-19 in Knox County.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported three new COVID-19 cases Friday, who are all recovering at home. Friday’s new cases include: a 51-year-old male, a 23-year-old male and a 48-year-old male.

The Laurel County Health Department also announced Friday that one previously reported case is now hospitalized, and that 46 additional cases have recovered.

The Laurel County Health Department reported seven new cases Thursday, 10 new cases Wednesday, three new cases Tuesday, 11 new cases Monday, three new cases Sunday, and eight new COVID-19 cases Saturday.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 462 cases, including: 263 recovered cases, and 194 active cases, of which 10 are hospitalized, and 184 are isolating at home.

Laurel County has had five COVID-19 fatalities with the most recent death happening on Aug. 6.

Between March 24 and June 4, there were 22 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Laurel County. Since June 9, there have been an additional 440 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the 462 Laurel County cases, 52 patients were under the age of 18, 113 patients were ages 18-30, 77 patients were ages 31-40, 62 patients were ages 41-50, 64 patients were ages 51-60, 63 patients were ages 61-70, 21 patients were ages 71-80 and 10 patients were over age 80.

A total of 10,104 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Laurel County as of Aug. 10.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported three new COVID-19 cases Friday, five new cases Thursday, seven new cases Wednesday, four new cases Tuesday, four new cases Monday, and three new cases Saturday.

Bell County now has 76 active cases, including seven who are hospitalized: a 66-year-old male, an 83-year-old male, a 79-year-old female, a 72-year-old male, a 73-year-old female, a 62-year-old male, and a 75-year-old male.

Bell County has had a total of 330 COVID-19 cases, including 254 people, who have recovered.

The Bell County Health Department reported its sixth fatality on Aug. 10. All fatalities have involved patients, who ranged in age from 68 to 85.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported one new COVID-19 case in McCreary County Friday, which involved a 31-year-old male, who is self-isolated and still symptomatic.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported three new McCreary County cases Thursday, three new McCreary County cases Wednesday, and one new McCreary County case Monday.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department also announced Friday that three McCreary County cases had been released from isolation.

McCreary County has had a total of 53 COVID-19 cases, including 13 active cases of whom 12 are self-isolated and one is hospitalized. 40 McCreary County cases have recovered.

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

Whitley County

The number of COVID-19 cases are down significantly this week in Whitley County. The Whitley County Health Department reported only one new case Friday, zero cases Thursday, one case Wednesday, two cases Tuesday, and two cases Monday.

Whitley County has a total of 166 COVID-19 cases, but health department officials didn’t indicate Friday how many of those cases are active or 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 155 additional cases diagnosed.

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

Out of the first 165 Whitley County cases, 20 patients were under the age of 18, 10 patients were ages 18-20, 32 patients were ages 21-30, 35 patients were ages 31-40, 21 patients were ages 41-50, 17 patients were ages 51-60, 13 patients were ages 61-70, 14 patients were age 71-80, and three patients were over age 80.

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 679 new COVID-19 cases statewide Friday, including 22 cases involving children under the ages five and under, and eight new deaths.

Statewide there have been 38,298 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 804 total deaths from the virus. More than 743,500 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and at least 9,021 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.

“Today we continue to see high numbers of COVID-19 cases,” Beshear said Friday. “At best we are at a plateau thanks to people’s wearing of facial coverings and we still need more time to reach a decline to get this state in the place we really need to be to do so many activities that we want.”