Bell, Knox County officials report new COVID-19 cases

Bell and Knox County officials are reporting new COVID-19 cases.

About 3 p.m. Friday, the Bell County Health Department reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 raising the county’s total number of cases to 27.

On Thursday. the health department reported the 13th and 14th COVID-19 cases in Bell County.

On Wednesday, the Bell County Health Department reported its 10th, 11th and 12th COVID-19 cases.

On Monday, the Bell County Health Department reported the county’s ninth COVID-19 case, a 73-year-old male patient, who was hospitalized with underlying health conditions, and that there were two other patients currently recovering at home, in addition to six patients, who had already fully recovered.

Bell County was one of the last counties in the state to report a positive COVID-19 case with its first positive COVID-19 case reported on May 16.

Knox County

About 9 p.m. Thursday, the Knox County Health Department reported that four additional Knox County residents had tested positive for COVID-19.

“We are reporting four new positive cases for Knox County today. This makes the current total number of positive COVID-19 cases for Knox County to be 79. We want to encourage everyone to always use proper protective measures especially as a holiday weekend approaches. Remember to wash your hands frequently, wear a mask, avoid large gatherings, and stay home if you are ill. The threat to the community is low. All epidemiological tracing and contact information have been conducted with these cases. Any close contacts will be notified by the Knox County Health Department,” Knox County Health Department Director Rebecca Rains said in a release late Thursday evening.

Last week it was reported that 47 patients at Christian Care Communities in Corbin tested positive for the virus in addition to several staff members. Wednesday evening the health department issued a clarification about that number revising it to 46 Christian Care Communities patients.

Between April 6 and May 30, Knox County only reported 10 COVID-19 cases with all 10 patients having fully recovered by June 15.

Out of the first 75 Knox County cases, one patient was under the age of 18, seven patients were ages 18-30, eight patients were ages 31-40, eight patients were ages 41-50, five patients were ages 51-60, five patients were ages 61-70, 12 patients were age 71-80, and 29 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County

On Thursday afternoon, the Whitley County Health Department reported four additional lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Whitley County residents. Since Monday a total of 12 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.

These latest cases raise Whitley County’s total number of cases to 33.

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 22 additional cases diagnosed.

Currently there are 17 active cases in Whitley County with 16 people isolating at home, and one person isolating in the hospital.

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

Out of the 33 Whitley County cases, two patients were under the age of 18, 10 patients were ages 18-30, six patients were ages 31-40, five patients were ages 41-50, two patients were age 51-60, four patients were ages 61-70, and four patients were age 71-80.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department announced late Thursday afternoon that there had been eight new cases of the coronavirus reported, which ranged in age from 25 years old to 59 years old, and that all eight patients are recovering at home. This raises Laurel County’s total number of cases to 145 cases.

The newest cases include: a 40-year-old female, a 25-year-old male, a 54-year-old female, a 50-year-old male, a 29-year-old female, a 59-year-old female, a 51-year-old male, and a 56-year-old female.

Laurel County has 92 active cases out of which 10 people are undergoing hospital isolation, and 82 are isolating at home.

Between March 24 and June 4, there were 22 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Laurel County out of which 20 people recovered and two died. Since June 9, there have been an additional 123 cases reported there, including a third fatality, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the Laurel County cases, 12 patients were under the age of 18, 31 patients were ages 18-30, 26 patients were ages 31-40, 17 patients were ages 41-50, 21 patients were ages 51-60, 25 patients were ages 61-70, seven patients were age 71-80, and six patients were over age 80.

A total of 4,191 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of June 29.

Laurel County announced Thursday that it wouldn’t be releasing additional COVID-19 information until Monday when it would announce additional information for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday’s cases at the same time.

Other cases

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported McCreary County’s 18th COVID-19 case early Saturday evening. This was the county’s fifth case since June 20.

Currently there are two active McCreary County cases, who are all self-isolating.

McCreary County reported its 13th COVID-19 case on May 9, but the first 13 cases have all been released from isolation, according to the Lake Cumberland District Health Department.

Statewide, there have been 16,376 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 585 deaths from the virus. At least 430,071 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and 4,747 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.