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Harlan County saw new COVID-19 cases increase over the last week following the Fourth of July holiday.

According to the Harlan County Health Department, 120 new cases were reported in the county from July 4 through July 10. There were 73 new cases reported from June 27 through July 3. A total of 89 cases were recorded between June 20 and June 26. The week spanning June 13 through June 19 saw a total of 40 new cases of COVID19 reported in the county. From June 6 through June 12, Harlan County recorded a total of 36 new cases.

There were also 36 new cases recorded from May 30 through June 5. Governor Andy Beshear provided a Covid-19 update for Kentucky on July 7, stating Kentucky is seeing a slight escalation in new cases. According to Beshear’s update, which can be found at www.kentucky.gov, Beshear announced that 10,191 cases were recorded from June 27 through July 3.

Hospitalizations and individuals in ICU and on a ventilator are also increasing. However, these numbers are not rising proportionately to the number of rising cases. The state’s weekly Covid-19 report released on July 11 states there were 10,949 new cases recorded during the previous week. There were 62 Covid-19 related deaths recorded during that time.

As of July 11, there were 483 people hospitalized across the state due to Covid-19, with 72 people in ICU and 28 on ventilators.

The state’s positivity rate was 16.96 percent on Monday.

The Harlan County Health Department asks for Harlan Countians to follow the guidelines for Covid-19 from the Kentucky Department of Public Health. These guidelines are to get vaccinated; keep up to date with vaccine boosters; isolate when sick or testing positive for Covid-19, and consider targeted mask use if high risk or following exposure to the virus.