PUSHES THE NUMBER OF CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC CASE TOTAL IN JOHNSON COUNTY PAST 1000
MEANWHILE: 84 NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES IN LAWRENCE COUNTY IN THE FIRST WEEK (7 DAYS) OF DECEMBER, FOR A TOTAL OF 511 SINCE START OF PANDEMIC IN MARCH
DECEMBER 8, 2020 – written by WADE QUEEN
OUTBREAK: 30+ INMATES TEST POSITIVE AT THE BIG SANDY REGIONAL DETENTION CENTER IN PAINTSVILLE.
The Johnson County, Kentucky Health Department in Paintsville reported at the beginning of this past weekend of a major spike in COVID-19 cases, after the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center reported a large number of positive coronavirus tests.
Johnson County Public Health Director Julie Bush said in a statement: “The 48 that we reported on Friday were 18 cases for community, and 30 of those cases were at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.”
According to BSRDC Jail Administrator Byron Hansford, as of Monday afternoon, the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center had administered 98 tests with 31 inmates testing positive for COVID-19.
While the number of arrested individuals who are being brought to the BSRDC by the four counties who use the jail has steeply dropped in the last two weeks; only 61 arrested individuals have been booked since November 24 to 12 P.M. Tuesday, December 8, the number of lodged inmates at any housing count has stayed relatively the same, between 175-185 prisoners; with a total of 178 at 12 P.M. Tuesday, December 8.
Administrator Hansford said officials are doing all they can to keep everybody healthy – inmates and staff personnel – at the BSRDC.
“We’re trying to isolate everybody as best we can,” administrator Hansford stated. “Trying to get the people that are positive in cells together and get the ones that are negative and the ones that have been exposed the best we can. But we’re limited with our space.”
Separating inmates is not the only measure they are taking. Hansford says they also keep a strict sanitation protocol.
“We’re constantly cleaning the jail and wearing our masks and we’re you know, getting every bit of hand sanitizer that we can get our hands on,” administrator Hansford claimed.
Johnson County Health Director Julie Bush stated that while a vaccine is on the horizon, she still strongly encourages people to abide by CDC guidelines for the time being.
“It’s going to be a little bit before it’s available to the general public, so we’re still concerned about that window in between cases still surging,” Ms. Bush said.
In its newest update, the Johnson County Health Department reported that as of Monday evening, December 7, Johnson County had 20 new COVID-19 cases that were confirmed. This brought the total of coronavirus cases in Johnson County since the start of the pandemic in March to 1043, with 814 recovered and 212 active. 2 Johnson County residents are currently hospitalized. The COVID-19 death toll so far for Johnson County is 17 deaths.
Meanwhile, in Lawrence County, according to the Lawrence County Health Department Monday evening there were ten (10) new COVID-19 cases in Lawrence County for Monday, December 7, 2020.
The total number of new COVID-19 cases so far for Lawrence County for the first seven days this month (December 1-7), is 84.
Those ages & gender of the ten newest coronavirus cases for Monday, December 7, are the following:
55-year-old female, home isolation
41-year-old female, home isolation
62-year-old male, hospitalized
20-year-old male, home isolation
11-year-old male, home isolation
9-year-old female, home isolation
35-year-old female, home isolation
56-year-old male, home isolation
53-year-old female, home isolation
74-year-old female, hospitalized
The ten newest cases brings the confirmed positive coronavirus case count in Lawrence County to 511; of which the number of cases that are active are 111: the number of recovered: 398,: and the number deaths stands at 2 individuals.
