Laurel, Whitley, Bell and McCreary all report additional COVID-19 cases Friday

Laurel, Whitley, Bell and McCreary counties all reported additional COVID-19 cases Friday.

The Whitley County Health Department announced five new cases Friday, which all tested positive with either a PCR/Molecular or antigen test.

The Whitley County Health Department reported 12 new cases Thursday, seven new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, six new cases Tuesday, five new cases Monday, and four new cases Sunday.

Whitley County now has a total of 126 COVID-19 cases, including 58 active cases. Five Whitley County residents are isolating in the hospital, and 53 Whitley County residents are isolating at home.

A total of 67 Whitley County patients have been released from isolation. On July 21, Whitley County reported its only COVID-19 death.

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 115 additional cases diagnosed.

So far, the majority of Whitley County cases have involved people ages 50 and under.

Out of the 126 Whitley County cases, 16 patients were under the age of 18, 10 patients were ages 18-20, 24 patients were ages 21-30, 25 patients were ages 31-40, 19 patients were ages 41-50, 14 patients were ages 51-60, nine patients were ages 61-70, eight patients were age 71-80, and one patient is over age 80.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported six new COVID-19 cases Friday, two of which are hospitalized.

Friday’s cases include: a 60-year-old male, a 51-year-old female (hospitalized), a 29-year-old female, a 51-year old male, a 58-year-old male (hospitalized), and a 49-year-old male.

The Laurel County Health Department reported 12 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, 12 COVID-19 cases Wednesday, seven new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, five new cases Monday, five new cases Sunday, and nine new cases Saturday.

The health department also reported that 37 additional cases had recovered Friday, and that two previously reported cases are no longer hospitalized.

In addition, the Laurel County Health Department announced that a previously reported case was determined to be a duplicate, and that a case was added that failed to make the July 17 listing, but who has now recovered and is included in the total number of recovered cases Friday.

This brings the Laurel County Health Department’s total number of overall cases to 370, including 185 recovered cases, and 181 active cases, of which eight are hospitalized, and 173, who 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 348 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Out of the 370 Laurel County cases, 40 patients were under the age of 18, 91 patients were ages 18-30, 62 patients were ages 31-40, 48 patients were ages 41-50, 48 patients were ages 51-60, 50 patients were ages 61-70, 16 patients were ages 71-80, and nine patients were over age 80.

A total of 8,094 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Laurel County as of July 27.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported three additional cases Thursday bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 268.

Bell County now has 78 active cases, including eight, who are hospitalized: a 66-year-old male, a 95-year-old female, an 87-year-old female, and 83-year-old male, a 79-year-old female, a 72-year-old male, a 70-year-old male, and a 75-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 seven additional cases Thursday, five additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday, four new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, 21 cases Monday, five COVID-19 cases Sunday, and seven cases Saturday.

A total of 190 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 260 additional cases have been reported.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported three new COVID-19 cases in McCreary County Friday.

These include a 57-year-old female, a 60-year-old male, and a 73-year-old female, who are all self-isolating but still symptomatic.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department also reported Friday that four cases had been released from isolation.

McCreary County has had a total of 34 COVID-19 cases, including seven active cases, who are all in self-isolation, and 27 cases that have all recovered.

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

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department announced Thursday that eight new cases of COVID-19 had been reported including one case involving a child.

This brings the total number of cases in Knox County to 189.

The Knox County Health Department reported two new cases Tuesday, five new cases Monday, and 10 new cases Friday.

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 179 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Knox County.

The Knox County Health Department reported Monday that it had 84 active cases, and that 82 cases had recovered.

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.

Out of the first 174 Knox County cases, 17 patients were under the age of 18, 33 patients were ages 18-30, 25 patients were ages 31-40, 17 patients were ages 41-50, 16 patients were ages 51-60, 12 patients were ages 61-70, 21 patients were ages 71-80, and 33 patients were over age 80.

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported 778 new COVID-19 cases Friday, including 23 new cases involving children ages five and under. In addition, he reported four new deaths Friday.

Statewide there have been 30,151 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 736 total deaths from the virus. A total of 629,706 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and at least 7,481 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.

“Our positivity rate has decreased for the third straight day. But, we still have too many cases and we need to do everything we can to try to decrease those. We’re also seeing an increase of patients in the ICU,” said Beshear.