Whitley, Bell counties report new COVID-19 fatalities Thursday

Both Whitley and Bell counties reported additional COVID-19 deaths Thursday.

“We have 15 new cases of COVID-19 in Whitley County residents today. We are also very sad to report one new death. We have adjusted our cases from yesterday down two after determining they are not currently living in Whitley County,” the Whitley County Health Department wrote in a release Thursday.

This is the fifth COVID-19 death in Whitley County this week with four deaths having been reported Monday.

The Whitley County Health Department reported an adjusted number of four new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, 19 new cases Tuesday, 24 new cases Monday, 12 new cases Sunday, four new cases Saturday, and 21 new cases Friday.

Whitley County has had a total of 687 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 177 active cases, and 501 cases have been released from isolation.

Out of the 687 Whitley County cases, 54 patients were under the age of 18, 69 patients were ages 18-20, 121 patients were ages 21-30, 89 patients were ages 31-40, 90 patients were ages 41-50, 83 patients were ages 51-60, 63 patients were ages 61-70, 59 patients were age 71-80, and 59 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 36.6, which places 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.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported its second COVID-19 death in three days Thursday, but no details were offered about the victim.

Bell County has reported a total of 21 COVID-19 deaths, which have all ranged in age from 62-97.

The Bell County Health Department reported 11 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, 10 new cases Wednesday, four new cases Tuesday, eight new cases Monday, six new cases Sunday, three new cases Saturday, and six new cases Friday.

Bell County has had a total of 583 COVID-19 cases with two people currently hospitalized, who range in age from 52-62.

Bell County currently has 46 active cases.

Bell County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 23.0 placing it in the orange category.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported 10 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, including one child and one from a congregated setting. The Knox County Health Department reported 31 new cases Wednesday, five new cases Tuesday, 34 new cases Monday, and 15 new cases Friday.

Knox County has had a total of 702 COVID-19 cases, including 167 active cases.

Knox County has had a total of 14 COVID-19 deaths.

Knox County’s COVID–19 current incidence rate is 56.9 placing it in the red category.

Only Fulton County at 62.2 had a higher incidence rate in Kentucky than Knox County on Thursday.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported 16 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, none of which are hospitalized.

Thursday’s new cases include: a 56-year-old male, an 18-year-old female, a 37-year-old male, a 66-year-old female, a 59-year-old female, a 68-year-old female, a 76-year-old male, a 72-year-old female, an 80-year-old male, a 33-year-old female, a 12-year-old female, a 32-year-old male, a 36-year-old male, a 45-year-old male, a 44-year-old female, and a 36-year-old female.

The Laurel County Health Department also reported 14 new cases Wednesday, 12 new cases Tuesday, 15 new cases Monday, eight new cases Sunday, 16 new cases Saturday, and 15 new cases Friday.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 1,157 COVID-19 cases, including: 785 recovered cases, and 362 active cases, of which 13 are currently hospitalized. A total of 87 of the active cases occurred within congregate settings.

Laurel County has reported 10 COVID-19-related deaths with the two most recent deaths being reported on Oct. 13.

Out of the 1,157 Laurel County cases, 128 patients were under the age of 18, 223 patients were ages 18-30, 183 patients were ages 31-40, 157 patients were ages 41-50, 166 patients were ages 51-60, 142 patients were ages 61-70, 100 patients were ages 71-80 and 58 patients were over age 80.

A total of 19,915 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of Oct. 12.

Laurel County’s COVID–19 incidence rate Thursday is 24.7, placing it in the orange category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 235 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Oct. 14.

Currently there are 21 active McCreary County cases, which are all in self-isolation. A total of 213 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 orange category.

Statewide cases

On Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,260 new COVID-19 cases, of which 168 were children ages 18 and under, and 20 new deaths.

“We just can’t ignore it. We can’t pretend like it’s not here,” said Beshear. “We can’t allow the fact that we are inconvenienced make us pretend that the virus isn’t with us and isn’t deadly.”

Statewide there have been 84,195 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 1,296 total deaths from the virus. A total of 1,751,264 coronavirus tests have been performed in Kentucky, and at least 16,928 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.