Knox, Laurel, and Whitley counties all report double-digit increases in COVID-19 cases Wednesday

Knox, Laurel and Whitley counties all reported double-digit increases in the number of new COVID-19 cases Wednesday.

The Knox County Health Department (KCHD) reported 48 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including one case involving a child.

“We have been notified that 21 of these cases are from a congregated setting. We have also been notified of a positive case being employed at Dollar General, Barbourville. KCHD is working closely with management to ensure all employees are following proper recommendations. The employee, who tested positive, as well as others in their immediate work area, are self-quarantining,” the Knox County Health Department wrote in a release Wednesday.

“If you patronized this business on Thursday, October 29, 2020 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. or Monday, November 2, 2020, between the hours of 6:00 a.m. – 2:00 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 didn’t report any cases Tuesday (apparently due to being closed on Election Day and Tuesday’s cases were presumably combined with Wednesday’s cases), reported 12 new cases Monday, 11 new cases Friday, and nine new cases Thursday.

Knox County has had a total of 945 COVID-19 cases, including 189 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 33.0 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 28 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday and 57 new cases Tuesday.

Wednesday’s new cases include: a 73-year-old female, a 60-year-old female, a 73-year-old female, a 46-year-old female, a 15-year-old female, a 32-year-old male, a 50-year-old male, a 34-year-old male, a 70-year-old male, a 47-year-old male, a 57-year-old male, a 16-year-old female, a 37-year-old female, a 20-year-old male, a 56-year-old female, a 45-year-old male, a 72-year-old female, a 12-year-old male, a 40-year-old male, a 35-year-old female, a 71-year-old male, a three-year-old male, a two-week-old female, a 70-year-old male, an 18-year-old male, a 29-year-old female, a 25-year-old male, a 42-year-old male.

Tuesday’s new cases include: a 52-year-old female, a 19-year-old female, an unknown age female, a 21-year-old male, an 84-year-old male (hospitalized), a 32-year-old male, a 73-year-old female, a 34-year-old female, a 49-year-old female, a 24-year-old female, a 26-year-old female, a 20-year-old female, a 28-year-old female, an 18-year-old female, a 19-year-old female, a 54-year-old male, a 45-year-old male, a 23-year-old female, a 32-year-old male, a 15-month-old male, a 37-year-old female, an 18-year-old male, a 24-year-old male, a 32-year-old male, a 61-year-old male, a 71-year-old male, a 70-year-old male, a 17-year-old male, a 50-year-old female, a three-year-old male, a 33-year-old male, a 29-year-old female, a 58-year-old female, a 36-year-old male, a 38-year-old female, a 35-year-old female, a 69-year-old female, a 41-year-old female, a 69-year-old male, a 53-year-old female, an eight-year-old female, a 59-year-old male, a six-year-old male, a 55-year-old male, a 47-year-old female, a 47-year-old male, a 52-year-old female, a 42-year-old male, a 16-year-old female, a 38-year-old female, a 67-year-old female, a 17-year-old male, a 52-year-old female, a 45-year-old female, a 34-year-old female, a nine-year-old female, and a 29-year-old female.

The Laurel County Health Department also announced Wednesday that 10 of its COVID-19 positive patients had passed away.

“At this time, it is unclear if the deaths were COVID-19 related. We will await confirmation from the Department for Public Health before including them in our COVID-19 deaths,” the health department wrote in a release that noted an additional 160 cases had recovered.

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 24 new cases Monday, 17 new cases Sunday, 33 new cases Saturday, 46 new cases Friday, and 31 new cases Thursday.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 1,660 COVID-19 cases, including: 1,018 recovered cases, and 621 active cases, of which 23 are currently hospitalized. A total of 30 of the active cases occurred within congregate settings.

Out of the 1,660 Laurel County cases, 185 patients were under the age of 18, 327 patients were ages 18-30, 258 patients were ages 31-40, 254 patients were ages 41-50, 240 patients were ages 51-60, 196 patients were ages 61-70, 130 patients were ages 71-80, and 70 patients were over age 80.

A total of 24,261 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of Nov. 2.

Laurel County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 54.3, placing it in the red category.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported 13 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, 19 new cases Tuesday, 29 new cases Monday, four new cases Sunday, 17 new cases Saturday, 18 new cases Friday, and 13 new cases Thursday.

Whitley County has had a total of 989 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 157 active cases, including four people who are hospitalized, and 820 cases have been released from isolation.

Out of the 989 Whitley County cases, 89 patients were under the age of 18, 88 patients were ages 18-20, 179 patients were ages 21-30, 128 patients were ages 31-40, 128 patients were ages 41-50, 126 patients were ages 51-60, 97 patients were ages 61-70, 76 patients were age 71-80, and 78 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County has reported 12 COVID-19 fatalities with the most recent death occurring on Nov. 2.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 47.7, which places it in the red category.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported four new individual COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including two new cases involving staff at the Bell County Forestry Camp, 11 new cases Tuesday, 13 new cases Monday, two new long-term care COVID-19 cases Sunday, 88 cases Saturday tied to the Bell County Forestry Camp, 10 new cases Friday, and 12 new cases Thursday.

The forestry camp’s 90 total cases include 84 inmates and six staff members.

Bell County has had a total of 854 COVID-19 cases with four people currently hospitalized, who range in age from 42-76.

Bell County currently has 161 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 85.6 placing it in the red category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 309 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Nov. 3.

Currently, there are 39 active McCreary County cases. One case is hospitalized and the remainder are in self-isolation. A total of 269 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 15.8 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 1,635 new COVID-19 cases, and 11 new COVID-19 deaths.

Statewide there have been 113,009 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 1,514 total deaths from the virus. A total of 2,136,109 coronavirus tests have been performed in Kentucky, and at least 19,667 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.