COVID-19 cases continue to climb in Laurel, Whitley and Bell counties

Local COVID-19 cases continued to rise in Laurel, Whitley and Bell counties Monday.

The Laurel County Health Department, which didn’t release any new COVID-19 figures Saturday or Sunday, announced 18 new cases Monday afternoon bringing Laurel County’s total number of cases to 118.

Out of the 80 active cases, nine patients are currently undergoing hospital isolation, including two new cases from the weekend. One prior hospitalized case has been released from the hospital bringing the total of 71 patients undergoing home isolation.

On Saturday, 12 new cases were reported, including: a 39-year-old male, a 46-year-old male, a 29-year-old female, a 47-year-old male, a 37-year-old male, a 17-year-old male, a 41-year-old female, a 32-year-old male, a 62-year-old male, a 55-year-old male, a 38-year-old female and a 71-year-old male.

On Sunday, two new cases were reported involving a 62-year-old and a 57-year-old female.

On Monday, four new cases were reported involving a 73-year-old female, a 65-year-old male, a 61-year-old female, and a 30-year-old male.

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 96 cases reported there, including a third fatality, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the Laurel County cases, eight patients were under the age of 18, 21 patients were ages 18-30, 24 patients were ages 31-40, 16 patients were ages 41-50, 14 patients were ages 51-60, 23 patients were ages 61-70, six 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.

Bell County

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.

On Monday, the Bell County Health Department reported its ninth total COVID-19 case, which involves a 73-year-old male, who is hospitalized with underlying health conditions.

There are two patients currently recovering at home, and six patients have already fully recovered.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department announced Monday that four new COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed raising the total number of cases in Whitley County to 25.

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 14 additional cases diagnosed. The Whitley County Health Department didn’t indicate in its release Monday how many active cases there are in the county.

The majority of Whitley County cases have involved people ages 50 and under.

Out of the first 21 Whitley County cases, one patient was under the age of 18, six patients were ages 18-30, four patients were ages 31-40, two patients were ages 41-50, one patient was age 51-60, three patients were ages 61-70, and four patients were age 71-80.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department announced 50 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, and on Sunday announced its 71st and 72nd positive COVID-19 cases.

“As we are beginning to see an increase of COVID-19 cases, we want to encourage the public to continue to use proper preventative measures. Remember to wash your hands often, wear a mask, and to 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.

On Friday afternoon, the Knox County Health Department announced 50 new cases of COVID-19, which included 47 residents and two staff members at Christian Health Center in Corbin. In all a total of eight staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

Campus-wide testing was initially done on June 2 for all staff and residents, and showed no positive cases of the virus. Testing again on Wednesday, June 24, confirmed that 47 residents and eight staff were all positive for COVID-19. Nearly everyone, who tested positive, is asymptotic at this time, a Christian Care Communities release noted Friday.

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

McCreary County

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.

All five active McCreary County cases are 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 numbers

Statewide, there have been 15,347 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 560 deaths from the virus. At least 394,773 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and 3,939 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.