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Within a week, two Harlan Countians have now reportedly died because of complications from the novel coronavirus, according to Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley.

Mosley announced the county’s first death related to COVID-19 on Thursday and another on Monday. He asked locals to “please pray” for the family and friends of the two individuals during this time.

There have now been a total of 19 cases in the county, 11 of which are active and six that have recovered.

The 11 active cases include a 57-year-old male (symptomatic; released from hospital/quarantined), 69-year-old male (symptomatic; quarantined), 55-year-old female (symptomatic; quarantined), 25-year-old male (symptomatic; quarantined), 20-year-old male (asymptomatic; quarantined), 53-year-old male (asymptomatic; quarantined), 26-year-old female (asymptomatic; quarantined), 19-year-old male (asymptomatic; quarantined), 17-year-old male (asymptomatic; quarantined), 65-year-old male (symptomatic; released from hospital/quarantined) and 59-year-old female (symptomatic; quarantined).

Mosley said nine of the 11 active cases are from the Tri-City area, where more than 100 people are currently in quarantine that were contacts of the positive cases. He said the Harlan County Health Department will contact anyone who is a contact as part of their tracing process.

As of 5:30 p.m. on June 22:

• 1,673 tests have been conducted in Harlan County.
• 1,608 of these tests have been conducted on Harlan County residents.
• 46 tests have been conducted on people from other counties.
• 19 tests have been conducted on people from other states.
• 1,576 tests have been negative.
• 78 tests are currently pending.

Mosley said 5.7 percent of the population in the county has been tested, with 1.2 percent of Harlan County residents testing positive for the virus. This does not include individuals who tested negative outside of Harlan County.

“All of us should continue to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell,” he said. “If we have those symptoms, we need to call our health care provider about getting tested or what level of care we need. If you are sick, please stay home.”