Whitley, Laurel counties each report over 40 new COVID-19 cases Thursday

Whitley and Laurel counties each reported over 40 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.

The Whitley County Health Department reported 41 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, 26 new cases Wednesday, 38 new cases Tuesday, 45 new cases Monday, three new cases Sunday, seven new cases Saturday, and 37 new cases Friday.

Whitley County has had a total of 1,481 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 232 active cases, including nine people who are hospitalized, and 1,233 cases have been released from isolation.

The Whitley County Health Department has reported 16 COVID-19 fatalities with the most recent death being reported on Nov. 30.

Out of the 1,481 Whitley County cases, 137 patients were under the age of 18, 127 patients were ages 18-20, 261 patients were ages 21-30, 192 patients were ages 31-40, 217 patients were ages 41-50, 190 patients were ages 51-60, 136 patients were ages 61-70, 120 patients were age 71-80, and 101 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 67, 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.

All but seven Kentucky counties were in the red Thursday.

The incidence rate for each county may be found online at www.kycovid19.com.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported 43 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, including one person, who is hospitalized. One of Thursday’s cases came from a congregated setting, and one previously reported hospitalized case has been released.

Thursday’s new cases include: a 67-year-old male, a 47-year-old male, a 26-year-old female, a 38-year-old female, a 27-year-old male, a 42-year-old female, a 20-year-old male, a 49-year-old female, an 18-year-old male, a 22-year-old female, a 19-day-old female, a 27-year-old male, an 18-year-old female, a 19-year-old female, a 57-year-old female, a 69-year-old female, an 18-year-old male, a 41-year-old male, a 67-year-old male (hospitalized), a 60-year-old male, a 63-year-old male, a 40-year-old female, a 73-year-old male, a 67-year-old male, a 46-year-old female, a 62-year-old female, a 62-year-old male, a 40-year-old male, a 29-year-old female, a 27-year-old male, a 39-year-old male, a 21-year-old female, a 43-year-old female, a 21-year-old female, a 45-year-old male, a two-year-old male, a 55-year-old female, a 40-year-old male, a 33-year-old male, a 32-year-old female, a 13-year-old male, a 49-year-old female, and an 81-year-old male.

The Laurel County Health Department reported 50 new cases Wednesday, 72 new cases Tuesday, 30 new cases Monday, 31 new cases Sunday, 20 new cases Saturday, and 67 cases Friday.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 2,684 COVID-19 cases, including: 1,557 recovered cases, and 1,101 active cases, of which 32 are currently hospitalized. A total of 12 of the active cases occurred within congregate settings.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 12 confirmed COVID-19 fatalities with the most recent fatality being confirmed on Nov. 25.

Out of the 2,684 Laurel County cases, 298 patients were under the age of 18, 568 patients were ages 18-30, 429 patients were ages 31-40, 408 patients were ages 41-50, 388 patients were ages 51-60, 318 patients were ages 61-70, 192 patients were ages 71-80, and 83 patients were over age 80.

A total of 29,644 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of Nov. 30.

Laurel County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 65.5, placing it in the red category.

Knox County
The Knox County Health Department (KCHD) reported 30 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, including eight cases involving children, 19 new cases Wednesday, 27 new cases Tuesday, and 34 new cases Monday.

“We have been notified that two of these cases are from a congregated setting. We have also been notified of a positive case being employed at Cash Express, Barbourville. KCHD is working closely with management to ensure all employees are following proper recommendations. The employee, who tested positive, as well as others in their immediate work area, are self-quarantining,” the Knox County Health Department wrote in a release Thursday.

If you patronized this business on Saturday, Nov. 28, between the hours of 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., on Monday, Nov. 30, between the hours of 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., or on Tuesday, Dec. 1, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., please monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.

In a Tuesday release, the Knox County Health Department reported a positive case involving an individual employed at Lowes in Corbin. If you patronized this business on Friday, Nov. 27, between the hours of 6 a.m. – 3 p.m. please monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.

If you become ill and show signs of COVID-19, then get tested, the releases noted.

Knox County has had a total of 1,329 COVID-19 cases, including 178 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 36.7 placing it in the red category.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported 27 new individual COVID-19 cases Thursday, 24 new cases Wednesday, 13 new cases Tuesday, 21 new cases Monday, 13 new cases Sunday, eight new cases Saturday, and nine new cases Friday.

Bell County has had a total of 1,338 COVID-19 cases with seven people currently hospitalized, who range in age from 59-84.

Bell County currently has 224 active individual cases, and four active long-term care cases.

Bell County has reported 25 COVID-19 fatalities with the most recent death occurring on Dec. 1. All deaths have ranged in age from 62-97.

Bell County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 58.2 placing it in the red category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 606 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Dec 2, including 35 new cases that were reported on Dec. 2.

Currently, there are 132 active McCreary County cases with 13 cases that are hospitalized and the remainder are in self-isolation. A total of 473 McCreary County cases are classified as not contagious, and there has been one McCreary County COVID-19 fatality.

(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.)

McCreary County’s COVID–19 incidence rate Thursday is 62.2 placing it in the red category.

Statewide cases

On Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 3,895 new COVID-19 cases, and 34 new COVID-19 deaths.

This is the second highest number of cases reported in one day in Kentucky.

Statewide there have been 190,601 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 2,014 total deaths from the virus. A total of 2,902,833 coronavirus tests have been performed in Kentucky, and at least 28,755 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.