Whitley County’s number of COVID-19 cases grows from 1 to 6 in less than 36 hours

Over the course of less than 36 hours, Whitley County’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has jumped from one confirmed case to six confirmed cases.

The Whitley County Health Department announced about 4 p.m. Saturday that it had received notice of two additional residents, who had tested positive with COVID-19. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Whitley County to six adults.

The Whitley County Health Department is collaborating with partners to identify people who have had close contact with these people and are at risk for infection. Those people will be contacted and provided instructions. Additional details about the people cannot be provided because of medical privacy laws, the health department said in a release.

“We ask that people stay home as much as possible to help stop the spread of COVID-19. When you must be away from home, stay at least 6 feet from people you don’t live with,” said Marcy Rein, Whitley County Health Department Public Director.

Whitley County’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed on April 6. This patient has already recovered, Rein said.

Friday morning, the Whitley County Health Department announced that an additional adult had tested positive for the virus.

On Friday afternoon, the health department announced that two additional adults had tested positive.

About 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon, Baptist Health Corbin announced that it was treating two patients, who were confirmed to have COVID-19.

Those two patients were from Laurel County, which as of Friday had eight confirmed cases.

Knox County has one confirmed case involving an employee of the Barbourville Police Department. Five Barbourville Police officers and Mayor David Thompson are all quarantined because of exposure to the virus, according to the Barbourville Police Department.

As of April 10, there were 1,693 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 90 deaths from the virus.

At least 24,288 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Kentucky, according to the state’s official COVID-19 website, which was last updated at 5 p.m. on Friday.