Bell, Laurel, Knox and Whitley counties all report additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday

Bell, Laurel, Knox and Whitley counties all reported additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday.

The Bell County Health Department reported 28 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, nine new cases Tuesday, seven new cases Monday, three new cases Sunday, two new cases Saturday, nine new cases Friday, and 16 new cases Thursday.

Bell County has had a total of 709 COVID-19 cases with five people currently hospitalized, which are all males ranging in age from 59-85.

Bell County currently has 77 active cases.

Bell County has reported a total of 21 COVID-19 deaths, which have all ranged in age from 62-97. The most recent death was reported on Oct. 15.

Bell County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 34.0 placing it in the red category.

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 17 new cases Wednesday, 22 new cases Tuesday, 30 new cases Monday, 12 new cases Sunday, 20 new cases Saturday, 22 new cases Friday, and 19 new cases Thursday.

Wednesday’s new cases include: a 26-year-old male, a 58-year-old female, a 70-year-old female, a 52-year-old female, a 20-year-old female, a 56-year-old female, a 68-year-old male, a 40-year-old male, a 66-year-old female, a 71-year-old male, a 32-year-old male, a 31-year-old female, a 54-year-old female, a 15-year-old female, a 46-year-old female, a 57-year-old female, and a 28-year-old female.

The Laurel County Health Department also announced Wednesday that 34 additional cases had recovered.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 1,425 COVID-19 cases, including: 858 recovered cases, and 555 active cases, of which 19 are currently hospitalized. A total of 88 of the active cases occurred within congregate settings.

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

The Laurel County Health Department reported two additional deaths of COVID-19 patients on Oct. 23, but noted that it was unclear if the deaths were COVID-19 related, and that it was awaiting confirmation from the Kentucky Department for Public Health before including them in its COVID-19 deaths.

Out of the 1,425 Laurel County cases, 155 patients were under the age of 18, 275 patients were ages 18-30, 213 patients were ages 31-40, 212 patients were ages 41-50, 208 patients were ages 51-60, 179 patients were ages 61-70, 117 patients were ages 71-80, and 66 patients were over age 80.

A total of 22,460 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of Oct. 26.

Laurel County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 35.0, placing it in the red category.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported 11 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including two cases involving children, 25 new cases Tuesday, 24 new cases Monday, 18 new cases Friday, and 16 new cases Thursday.

Knox County has had a total of 865 COVID-19 cases, including 190 active cases.

Knox County has had a total of 15 COVID-19 deaths with the most recent death occurring on Oct. 26.

Knox County’s COVID–19 current incidence rate is 45.9 placing it in the red category.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported nine new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, 25 new cases Tuesday, eight new cases Monday, two new cases Sunday, 12 new cases Saturday, 14 new cases Friday, and 19 new cases Thursday.

Whitley County has had a total of 865 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 156 active cases, including five people who are hospitalized, and 698 cases have been released from isolation.

Whitley County has had a total of 11 COVID-19 deaths with the most recent death having been reported on Oct. 20.

Out of the 865 Whitley County cases, 78 patients were under the age of 18, 82 patients were ages 18-20, 149 patients were ages 21-30, 113 patients were ages 31-40, 111 patients were ages 41-50, 107 patients were ages 51-60, 83 patients were ages 61-70, 70 patients were age 71-80, and 72 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 33.5, which places it in the red category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 272 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Oct. 27.

Currently, there are 28 active McCreary County cases, which are all in self-isolation. A total of 243 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 Wednesday is 9.9 placing it in the yellow category.

(Editor’s Note: The Lake Cumberland District Health Department, which McCreary County is a part of, typically doesn’t post updates on its cases until early to late evening. This is why the previous day’s totals are posted in this story.)

Statewide cases

On Wednesday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,854 new COVID-19 cases, and 14 new COVID-19 deaths.

“It takes an entire community to protect the most vulnerable, to keep our schools open and to keep our economy running,” said Beshear. “What we need to see is that when a county hits red, everybody comes together in a coordinated effort.”

Statewide there have been 101,494 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 1,442 total deaths from the virus. A total of 1,976,218 coronavirus tests have been performed in Kentucky, and at least 18,165 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.