Whitley County reports its 12th COVID-19 fatality Monday

COVID-19 cases continue to rise locally with Whitley County reporting one new COVID-19 fatality Monday, and a Bell County detention facility reporting over 80 new cases Saturday.

The Whitley County Health Department reported 29 new COVID-19 cases Monday, four new cases Sunday, 17 new cases Saturday, 18 new cases Friday, 13 new cases Thursday, nine new cases Wednesday, and 25 new cases Tuesday.

“We are extremely sad to report one new death. Lastly, (we) have corrected our data to reflect 11 cases associated with long-term care that we did not previously report. While double-checking our data, we discovered 11 cases ranging from 8/25 – 10/1 that we did not receive paperwork on. The issue has been corrected,” the Whitley County Health Department wrote in a release Monday.

Monday’s death was the 12^th COVID-19 fatality reported in Whitley County, and the newest one since Oct. 20.

Whitley County has had a total of 957 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 151 active cases, including four people who are hospitalized, and 794 cases have been released from isolation.

Out of the 957 Whitley County cases, 84 patients were under the age of 18, 83 patients were ages 18-20, 171 patients were ages 21-30, 124 patients were ages 31-40, 124 patients were ages 41-50, 123 patients were ages 51-60, 95 patients were ages 61-70, 75 patients were age 71-80, and 78 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 37.4, 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 13 new COVID-19 cases Monday, two new long-term care COVID-19 cases Sunday, and an additional to 88 cases Saturday tied to the Bell County Forestry Camp.

The forestry camp’s cases include 84 inmates and four staff members.

The Bell County Health Department reported 10 new cases Friday, 12 new cases Thursday, 28 new cases Wednesday, and nine new cases Tuesday.

Bell County has had a total of 839 COVID-19 cases with five people currently hospitalized, who range in age from 39-76.

Bell County currently has 175 active cases, including two active long-term care cases and the 88 cases involving the forestry camp.

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 86.2 placing it in the red category.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported 24 new COVID-19 cases Monday, 17 new cases Sunday, and 33 new cases Saturday.

Monday’s new cases include: a 58-year-old female, a 45-year-old female, a 38-year-old male, a 45-year-old female, a 53-year-old female, a 43-year-old male, a 24-year-old female, a 47-year-old male, a 62-year-old female, a 35-year-old male, a 47-year-old male, a 35-year-old female, a 62-year-old male, a 60-year-old female, a 40-year-old male, a 34-year-old female, a 41-year-old female, a 17-year-old female, a 21-year-old female, a 25-year-old female, a 44-year-old female, a 56-year-old male, a 59-year-old female, and a 21-year-old female.

Sunday’s new cases include: a 77-year-old male, a 62-year-old male, a 64-year-old female, a 34-year-old female, a 77-year-old male, a 74-year-old female, a 13-year-old female, a 34-year-old female, a 44-year-old male, a 35-year-old male, an 84-year-old male (hospitalized), a 24-year-old male, a 56-year-old male, a 25-year-old female, a 51-year-old female, a 26-year-old male, and a 29-year-old female.

Saturday’s new cases include: a 12-year-old male, a 66-year-old male (hospitalized), a 41-year-old female, a 19-year-old male, a 34-year-old female, a 70-year-old male, a 23-year-old female, an 18-year-old female, a 21-year-old male, a 36-year-old male, a 59-year-old female, a 20-year-old male, a 16-year-old male, a 27-year-old male, a 71-year-old female, a 33-year-old male, a 12-year-old male, a 29-year-old female, a 21-year-old male, a 51-year-old female, a 42-year-old female, a 45-year-old male, a 24-year-old female, a 47-year-old female, a 57-year-old female, a 28-year-old female, a 26-year-old male, a 43-year-old female, a 52-year-old male, a 34-year-old female, a 39-year-old female, a 15-year-old female, and a 50-year-old male.

The Laurel County Health Department reported 46 new cases Friday, 31 new cases Thursday, 17 new cases Wednesday, and 22 new cases Tuesday.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 1,576 COVID-19 cases, including: 860 recovered cases, and 704 active cases, of which 25 are currently hospitalized. A total of 89 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 1,576 Laurel County cases, 172 patients were under the age of 18, 310 patients were ages 18-30, 242 patients were ages 31-40, 241 patients were ages 41-50, 229 patients were ages 51-60, 189 patients were ages 61-70, 124 patients were ages 71-80, and 69 patients were over age 80.

A total of 24,261 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of Nov. 2.

Laurel County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 39.9, placing it in the red category.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported 12 new COVID-19 cases Monday, including two cases involving children, 11 new cases Friday, nine new cases Thursday, 11 new cases Wednesday, and 25 new cases Tuesday.

Knox County has had a total of 897 COVID-19 cases, including 158 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 40.4 placing it in the red category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 301 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Nov. 1.

Currently, there are 36 active McCreary County cases. Two cases are hospitalized and the remainder are in self-isolation. A total of 264 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 Monday is 9.1 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 Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,032 new COVID-19 cases, and three new COVID-19 deaths.

On Sunday, Beshear reported 1,423 new COVID-19 cases, and four new COVID-19 deaths.

On Saturday, Beshear reported 1,986 new COVID-19 cases, and nine new COVID-19 deaths.

Statewide there have been 109,670 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 1,492 total deaths from the virus. A total of 2,076,257 coronavirus tests have been performed in Kentucky, and at least 18,516 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.