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

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

The Laurel County Health Department reported 31 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, 17 new cases Wednesday, 22 new cases Tuesday, 30 new cases Monday, 12 new cases Sunday, 20 new cases Saturday, and 22 new cases Friday.

Thursday’s new cases include: a 27-year-old male, a 71-year-old male, a 34-year-old male, a 60-year-old male, a 36-year-old male, a 74-year-old female, a 31-year-old male, a 21-year-old female, a 49-year-old female, a 44-year-old female, a 25-year-old female, a 29-year-old male, a 57-year-old male, a 49-year-old female, a 45-year-old female, a 53-year-old male, a 41-year-old female, a 20-year-old male, a 62-year-old female, a 53-year-old female, a 27-year-old female, a 62-year-old female, a 32-year-old female, a 10-month-old female, a 37-year-old male, a 24-year-old male, a 40-year-old male, a 15-year-old female, a 45-year-old male, a 44-year-old female, and a 38-year-old female.

The Laurel County Health Department also announced Thursday that one of the new cases occurred within a congregate setting.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 1,456 COVID-19 cases, including: 860 recovered cases, and 584 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.

Out of the 1,456 Laurel County cases, 158 patients were under the age of 18, 281 patients were ages 18-30, 220 patients were ages 31-40, 219 patients were ages 41-50, 212 patients were ages 51-60, 181 patients were ages 61-70, 119 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 32.2, 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.

Whitley County

The Whitley County Health Department reported 13 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, nine new cases Wednesday, 25 new cases Tuesday, eight new cases Monday, two new cases Sunday, 12 new cases Saturday, and 14 new cases Friday.

Whitley County has had a total of 878 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 156 active cases, including five people who are hospitalized, and 711 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 878 Whitley County cases, 78 patients were under the age of 18, 82 patients were ages 18-20, 151 patients were ages 21-30, 115 patients were ages 31-40, 116 patients were ages 41-50, 110 patients were ages 51-60, 83 patients were ages 61-70, 70 patients were age 71-80, and 73 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 37.0, which places it in the red category.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported 12 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, 28 new cases Wednesday, nine new cases Tuesday, seven new cases Monday, three new cases Sunday, two new cases Saturday, and nine new cases Friday.

Bell County has had a total of 721 COVID-19 cases with five people currently hospitalized, which are all males ranging in age from 59-85.

Bell County currently has 82 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 36.8 placing it in the red category.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported nine new COVID-19 cases Thursday, including one cases involving a child, 11 new cases Wednesday, 25 new cases Tuesday, 24 new cases Monday, and 18 new cases Friday.

Knox County has had a total of 874 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 47.7 placing it in the red category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 273 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Oct. 28.

Currently, there are 21 active McCreary County cases, which are all in self-isolation. A total of 251 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 Thursday is 11.6 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 Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,821 new COVID-19 cases, and 19 new COVID-19 deaths.

Beshear said the new cases, was the third highest daily increase since the pandemic began in March.

Beshear added that 969 people are currently hospitalized, of which 234 are in intensive care.

The positivity rate is now 6.04 percent.

Statewide there have been 103,305 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 1,461 total deaths from the virus. A total of 1,987,572 coronavirus tests have been performed in Kentucky, and at least 18,277 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.