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Numbers of positive coronavirus cases are fluctuating across Kentucky, something Judge-Executive Dan Mosley has continued to express concern for as it relates to Harlan County.

Within the past week, which Mosley described as being “tough,” the county reported 57 new cases. This is the second-highest weekly total since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Kentucky.

“This week, we’ve started with half as many cases than we started last week with, which is encouraging news. Through two days last week, 26 total cases were confirmed. Through two days this week, 13 cases have been confirmed,” Mosley said in a Facebook update. “Hopefully, we see the cases decline again by renewing our understanding of the need to stay home if we are sick, wear a mask while in public, social distancing and frequent hand-washing.”

Six additional cases were reported Monday night, bringing the county total to 506.

One of the cases that was announced on Friday was determined to be invalid and has been removed from last week’s total and overall count, according to the judge-executive.

“Fifty-seven of our last 71 cases have been linked to one another in some way. Some have participated on a sports team together or are family members of team members, some have worked together and some are household/family contacts of one another,” he said.

There are 55 active cases in Harlan County, with six of those being hospitalized. The county also reports 12 total deaths related to COVID-19, as well as 439 individuals who are recovered.

Mosley said the state’s metric for determining a county’s incidence rate has changed drastically over the last week because it measures average cases over the past seven days.

On Monday, Mosley said the county remained in the critical area of the map at 36.8. The average would need to drop below 25 for Harlan to move out of the critical zone.

As of noon on Oct. 5:

— 7,373 tests have been conducted

— 6,867 tests have been negative

Mosley said 28 percent of the county’s population has been tested since the pandemic began, with a positivity rate of 6.8 percent overall. Since last Monday, 10.7 percent of the tests that have been conducted in Harlan County have been positive, down from just more than 15 percent the Monday before.

 

“Due to our spike in cases last week, I will provide an update each day this week as we monitor for any community spread. You can also refer to the Harlan County Health Department page for the daily case numbers,” Mosley said.