Update: Knox, Bell counties report COVID-19 fatalities Thursday; McCreary County announces three new cases Thursday

Whitley, Knox, Bell and Laurel counties all reported additional COVID-19 cases Thursday with Knox and Bell counties both reporting additional COVID-19 related fatalities.

Out of the 21 COVID-19 cases reported so far this week in Whitley County, more than half of those cases involved people, who traveled out of state.

Whitley County Health Department Public Health Marcy Rein said that three cases had visited Indiana, three visited South Carolina, three visited Virginia, one visited to Alabama, one visited Florida and one visited Ohio.

Rein noted that a lot of these out-of-state travel cases are also tied to other cases in surrounding counties, but she didn’t know how many exactly.

“Some of these cases have extensive lists of close contacts and some of those are testing positive as their quarantine time goes on,” Rein said.

The Whitley County Health Department reported five new COVID-19 cases Thursday, who all tested positive. Three took a PCR test and two tested positive with antigen tests.

The Whitley County Health Department reported six new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including four confirmed cases and two probable cases, four new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, including one confirmed case and three probable cases, six new cases Sunday.

A confirmed case means that a PCR test has identified virus genetic material, which usually comes from nose or mouth swabs, according to a graphic from the Whitley County Health Department.

A probable case is defined as a person meeting clinical criteria and epidemiologic evidence with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19; or a person meeting presumptive laboratory evidence and either clinical criteria or epidemiologic evidence; or a person meeting vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Whitley County now has a total of 78 COVID-19 cases, including 23 active cases. Two Whitley County residents are isolating in the hospital, and 21 Whitley County residents are isolating at home.

A total of 54 Whitley County patients have been released from isolation. On July 21, Whitley County reported its first 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 67 additional cases diagnosed.

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

Out of the 78 Whitley County cases, six patients were under the age of 18, 10 patients were ages 18-20, 14 patients were ages 21-30, 15 patients were ages 31-40, 12 patients were ages 41-50, seven patients were ages 51-60, seven patients were ages 61-70, and seven patients were age 71-80.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported four new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, including one positive being a child.

“We are also reporting one death at Christian Health Center, Corbin. It is always tragic to report any death. Our hearts are with this family during this difficult time. All epidemiological tracing and contact information are ongoing with these cases. Any close contacts will be notified by the Knox County Health Department,” said Knox County Health Department Director Rebecca Rains.

Previously, seven other patients from Christian Health Center in Corbin have died in Knox County due to COVID-19. At least five of the patients had pre-existing conditions.

Thursday’s cases bring Knox County’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 164.

The Knox County Health Department reported five additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday, four additional COVID-19 cases Tuesday, 10 additional COVID-19 cases Monday, and 15 additional COVID-19 cases Friday, three of whom are children.

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 154 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Knox County.

Out of the first 119 Knox County cases, five patients were under the age of 18, 19 patients were ages 18-30, 14 patients were ages 31-40, nine patients were ages 41-50, 12 patients were ages 51-60, 10 patients were ages 61-70, 17 patients were ages 71-80, and 33 patients were over age 80.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported eight new cases Thursday, including Bell County’s second COVID-19 fatality, which involved a 74-year-old female. On July 16, the Bell County Health Department reported its first COVID-19 death, which was an 85-year-old male.

These new cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Bell County to 210.

Bell County now has 92 active cases, including three, who are hospitalized: a 71-year-old female, a 95-year-old female, and a 68-year-old female.

The Bell County Health Department reported 32 new positive cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, including 13 individual cases and 19 long-term care cases, eight new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, six new cases Monday, four new COVID-19 cases Sunday, and one new case Saturday.

A total of 118 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 202 additional cases have been reported.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported 18 new cases Thursday ranging in age from an 8-week-old to a 68-year-old, who are all recovering at home.

Thursday’s cases include: an 8-week-old female, a 3-years and 11-month-old male, a 65-year-old female, a 37-year-old female, a 32-year-old male, a 27-year-old male, a 54-year-old male, a 51-year-old female, a 61-year-old male, a 16-year-old female, a 43-year-old male, a 22-year-old male, a 23-year-old female, a 45-year-old male, a 42-year-old female, a 24-year-old female, 28-year-old male, and a 68-year-old female.

The health department also reported Thursday that one patient, who had been hospitalized was no longer in the hospital, leaving nine of the 189 active cases isolating in the hospital, and 180 patients isolating at home.

The Laurel County health department reported five new cases Wednesday, seven new cases Tuesday, 10 new cases Monday, eight new cases Sunday, eight new cases Saturday, and 13 new cases Friday.

Laurel County now has a total of 307 COVID-19 cases out of which 114 people have recovered.

Between March 24 and June 4, there were 22 COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Laurel County. Since June 9, there have been an additional 285 cases reported there, according to the Laurel County Health Department.

Laurel County has had four COVID-19 related deaths.

Out of the 307 Laurel County cases, 30 patients were under the age of 18, 76 patients were ages 18-30, 51 patients were ages 31-40, 41 patients were ages 41-50, 40 patients were ages 51-60, 44 patients were ages 61-70, 16 patients were ages 71-80, and nine patients were over age 80.

A total of 7,081 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Laurel County as of July 20.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported late Thursday evening that three new COVID-19 cases had been diagnosed in McCreary County.

These include a 43-year old female and a 31-year-old female, who are symptomatic, and a 43-year-old male, whose symptom status is unknown.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department reported McCreary County’s 21st COVID-19 case Monday.

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department also reported Thursday that one McCreary County case had been released from isolation.

Currently there are four active COVID-19 cases in McCreary County, which are all self-isolating.

Thursday’s case raises the total number of COVID-19 cases in McCreary County to 24 with 20 cases having already recovered. So far, McCreary County has had no COVID-19 deaths.

Statewide cases

Gov. Andy Beshear reported Thursday afternoon that there were 611 newly reported cases of COVID-19 statewide, including seven new deaths. A total of 21 of the new cases involved children ages five and under from 13 different counties.

On Sunday the state reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in one day at 979 cases.

Statewide, there have been 25,147 total positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 684 total deaths from the virus. Over 565,490 people in Kentucky have been tested for COVID-19, and more than 7,046 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.