Knox County sees double-digit increase in new COVID-19 cases Tuesday

Whitley, Laurel, Bell and McCreary counties all reported new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, but in fewer numbers than each health department has generally reported daily in the past week.

However, the same can’t be said for Knox County, which had a double-digit increase in additional cases Tuesday.

The Knox County Health Department announced 12 new cases Tuesday evening.

The Knox County Health Department reported eight new cases Monday, including an employee at Two Amigos Mexican Restaurant in Barbourville. The employee, who tested positive, as well as others in their immediate work area, are self-quarantining, said Knox County Health Department Director Rebecca Rains in a news release.

If you visited Two Amigos on Thursday, July 30, Friday, July 31, or Sunday, Aug. 2, you should monitor for symptoms of COVID-19. If you become ill and show symptoms, you should get tested, Rains wrote.

The Knox County Health Department also reported seven new cases Friday, and eight cases Thursday.

Knox County has a total of 216 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 194 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Knox County.

Knox County reported its eighth COVID-19 fatality on July 23, which was the eighth patient to die from Christian Health Center in Corbin. The first five patients had pre-existing conditions. The status of the last three is unknown.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported six new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, who all tested positive with either PCR/Molecular or Antigen testing.

The Whitley County Health Department reported nine new cases Monday, five new cases Friday, and 12 new cases Thursday.

Whitley County now has a total of 141 COVID-19 cases, including 60 active cases. Three Whitley County residents are isolating in the hospital, and 57 Whitley County residents are isolating at home.

A total of 80 Whitley County patients 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 130 additional cases diagnosed.

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

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported six new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, which ranged in age from a 6-year-old to a 74-year-old. All are recovering at home.

Tuesday’s cases include: a six-year-old female, a 28-year-old female, a 65-year-old female, a 60-year-old male, a 19-year-old female, and a 74-year-old female.

The Laurel County Health Department reported seven new cases Monday, eight new cases Saturday, six new COVID-19 cases Friday, and 12 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.

The Laurel County Health Department has a total of 391 overall cases, including: 187 recovered cases, and 200 active cases, of which eight are hospitalized, and 192 are isolating at home.

Laurel County has had four COVID-19 related deaths.

Between March 24 and June 4, there were 22 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Laurel County. Since June 9, there have been an additional 369 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported two new COVID-19 cases Tuesday bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in Bell County to 282.

Bell County now has 69 active cases, including nine, who are hospitalized: a 66-year-old male, a 95-year-old female, a 70-year-old female, an 83-year-old male, a 79-year-old female, a 72-year-old male, a 70-year-old male, a 75-year-old female and a 55-year-old female.

On July 16, Bell County reported its first COVID-19 death, which was an 85-year-old male. Bell County reported its second COVID-19 fatality on July 23, which involved a 74-year-old female. On July 28, Bell County reported its third COVID-19 fatality, which involved a 68-year-old female.

The Bell County Health Department reported four new cases Monday, five new cases Sunday, three new cases Saturday, three new cases Friday, and seven additional cases Thursday.

A total of 213 people have recovered from COVID-19 in Bell County.

Bell County was one of the last counties in the state to report a positive COVID-19 case with its first positive case reported on May 16. Prior to June 29, Bell County had only reported eight positive COVID-19 cases, and since that time a total of 274 additional cases have been reported.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported Tuesday evening that two people had been released from isolation in McCreary County, and that one new case had been reported involving a 51-year-old female, who is self-isolated but still symptomatic.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported two new COVID-19 cases in McCreary County Monday, one new case in McCreary County Saturday, and three new COVID-19 cases in McCreary County Friday.

McCreary County has had a total of 38 COVID-19 cases, including seven active cases, who are all in self-isolation, and 31 cases that have all recovered.

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

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 700 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, including 18 new cases involving children ages five and under. In addition, he reported seven new deaths Tuesday.

Statewide there have been 32,197 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 751 total deaths from the virus. A total of more than 650,093 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and at least 8,406 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.

“We hope to see the trend we think we had over the past couple weeks continue, which is a slow of the growth,” Beshear said Tuesday. “While today we have a higher number than we did at this time last week, we believe there is a general leveling off though today there are more cases than last week.”