Knox County Health Department reports three new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday

The Knox County Health Department reported 31 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including one child, and three new COVID-19 deaths.

“We have been notified that 13 of these cases are from a congregated setting. We are also deeply saddened to report three deaths. Our thoughts are with these families. Also, we have been notified of a positive case being employed at IGA, Barbourville,” the Knox County Health Department announced in a release.

“If you patronized this business on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, between the hours of 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., we encourage the public to monitor for symptoms of COVID-19. If you do become ill and show signs of COVID-19, do become tested.”

The Knox County Health Department also reported five new cases Tuesday, 34 new cases Monday, 15 new cases Friday, and 14 new cases Thursday.

Knox County has had a total of 692 COVID-19 cases, including 167 active cases.

Knox County now has a total of 14 COVID-19 deaths.

Knox County’s COVID–19 current incidence rate is 51.8 placing it in the red category.

Only Fulton County at 57.4 had a higher incidence rate in Kentucky than Knox County on Wednesday.

A county with a COVID-19 rate over 25 cases per 100,000 people is considered critical, which is signified on the state map with the color red. A county with a rate between 10-25 cases per 100,000 people is considered accelerated and is shown as orange on the state map. A county with 1-10 cases per 100,000 people is considered to have community spread and is signified on the state map with the color yellow. A county with less than one case per 100,000 people is considered on track and is signified by the color green on the state map.

The incidence rate for each county may be found online at www.kycovid19.com.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported 14 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, of which only one case is hospitalized.

Only one of Wednesday’s cases was within a congregate setting. In addition, the Laurel County Health Department reported that there are 66 additional recovered cases Wednesday, and that two previously reported cases were determined not to be Laurel County residents.

Wednesday’s new cases include: a 67-year-old female, a 20-year-old male, a 24-year-old male, a 51-year-old female, a 33-year-old female, a 20-year-old female, a 31-year-old female, a 45-year-old male, a 27-year-old male, a 35-year-old female, a 35-year-old male, a 33-year-old female, a 73-year-old female, and a 77-year-old, who is hospitalized.

The Laurel County Health Department also reported 12 new cases Tuesday, 15 new cases Monday, eight new cases Sunday, 16 new cases Saturday, 15 new cases Friday, and 29 new cases Thursday.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 1,141 COVID-19 cases, including: 782 recovered cases, and 349 active cases, of which 13 are currently hospitalized. A total of 87 of the active cases occurred within congregate settings.

Laurel County has reported 10 COVID-19-related deaths with the two most recent deaths being reported on Oct. 13.

Out of the 1,141 Laurel County cases, 127 patients were under the age of 18, 222 patients were ages 18-30, 178 patients were ages 31-40, 155 patients were ages 41-50, 164 patients were ages 51-60, 140 patients were ages 61-70, 97 patients were ages 71-80 and 58 patients were over age 80.

A total of 19,915 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of Oct. 12.

Laurel County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 24.7, placing it in the orange category.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported six new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, 19 new cases Tuesday, 24 new cases Monday, 12 new cases Sunday, four new cases Saturday, 21 new cases Friday, and 28 new cases Thursday.

Whitley County has had a total of 674 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 199 active cases, and 467 cases have been released from isolation.

Whitley County has had eight COVID-19 deaths with the four most recent deaths being reported on Monday.

Out of the 674 Whitley County cases, 54 patients were under the age of 18, 67 patients were ages 18-20, 121 patients were ages 21-30, 88 patients were ages 31-40, 86 patients were ages 41-50, 79 patients were ages 51-60, 63 patients were ages 61-70, 58 patients were age 71-80, and 58 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 45.3, which places it in the red category.

Whitley County’s Wednesday incidence rate is the sixth highest in the state.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported 10 new individual cases Wednesday, four new cases Tuesday, eight new cases Monday, six new cases Sunday, three new cases Saturday, six new cases Friday, and five new individual cases Thursday.

Bell County has had a total of 572 COVID-19 cases with two people currently hospitalized, who range in age from 56-62.

Bell County currently has 38 active cases, which are all individual cases and no active long-term care cases.

The Bell County Health Department has reported 20 COVID-19 deaths with the most recent death being reported on Oct. 13. All of Bell County’s COVID-19 fatalities have ranged in age from 62-97.

Bell County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 24.1 placing it in the orange category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 228 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Oct. 13.

Currently there are 19 active McCreary County cases, which are all in self-isolation. A total of 208 McCreary County cases are classified as not contagious, and there has been one McCreary County COVID-19 fatality.

McCreary County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 11.6 placing it in the orange category.

College cases

The University of the Cumberlands has reported on its main campus in Williamsburg a total of 19 student cases that have been reported in the last 14 days, and 52 student cases ever reported. No staff members have been diagnosed with COVID-19 so far.

Union College has reported no new student cases in the last 14 days, and 44 student cases ever reported. There are three recovered staff cases, and no active staff cases.

Statewide cases

On Wednesday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,346 new COVID-19 cases, of which 171 were children ages 18 and under, and seven new deaths.

This was the most coronavirus cases reported in Kentucky in a single day that didn’t include a backlogged set of cases, as happened recently when some Fayette County case numbers were added.

“I’ve said this should be a wake-up call or maybe a jolt or shock to the system, but everybody ought to be concerned and everybody ought to be doing the right thing,” Beshear said. “Let’s push the complacency out and let’s get the urgency back in.”

Statewide there have been 83,013 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 1,276 total deaths from the virus. A total of 1,718,612 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and at least 16,756 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.