Knox, McCreary counties announce new COVID-19 cases

Just two days after announcing 50 new COVID-19 cases in one day, Knox County now has two additional COVID-19 cases.

The Knox County Health Department announced its 71st and 72nd positive COVID-19 cases Sunday afternoon.

“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 are all positive for COVID-19. Nearly everyone, who tested positive, is asymptotic at this time, a Christian Care Communities release noted.

About 10 p.m. Wednesday, the Knox County Health Department (KCHD) reported that four additional people had been diagnosed with COVID-19, which brought the county’s total up to 20 positive cases.

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.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department is now reporting 100 positive COVID-19 cases in Laurel County.

The Laurel County Health Department announced Friday that six new cases had been reported, and that one of the previously reported cases is now hospitalized.

Laurel County now has a total of 62 active cases with eight people hospitalized and 54 recovering 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 78 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

On Monday, Laurel County reported its third death from the virus.

Out of the Laurel County cases, seven patients were under the age of 18, 19 patients were ages 18-30, 20 patients were ages 31-40, 13 patients were ages 41-50, 12 patients were ages 51-60, 19 patients were ages 61-70, four patients were age 71-80, and six patients were over age 80.

A total of 3,293 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of June 22.

Bell County

Bell County, which didn’t report its first COVID-19 case until May 16, reported its eighth COVID-19 case Wednesday.

On Saturday, June 20, the Bell County Health Department reported its sixth COVID-19 case, and on Monday, it reported its seventh COVID-19 case.

Whitley County

Since June 16, Whitley County has reported six new COVID-19 cases with the most recent case being reported Monday.

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 10 additional cases diagnosed out of which nine cases are still active. Two people are isolating in the hospital and seven are isolating at home.

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

Out of the 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.

Statewide numbers

Statewide, there have been 15,232 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 558 deaths from the virus. At least 383,636 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and 3,730 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.