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Harlan County saw a dramatic drop in new cases of Covid-19 for the most recent week, with less than 150 new cases reported in the county.

According to the Harlan County Health Department’s update release on Monday, there were 143 new Covid-19 cases confirmed between Sept. 6 and Monday, Sept. 12. This is down from the 414 cases recorded from Aug. 29 through Sept. 5. The period of Aug. 22 through Aug. 29, saw 495 cases reported.

The Harlan County Health Department also announced the department will no longer be posting weekly Covid-19 updates; however, the information will still be available at www.govstatus.egov.com/ky-covid-data-dashboard.

Governor Andy Beshear provided Covid-19 information in his latest Team Kentucky Update on Sept. 8, which can be found at www.kentucky.gov.

Beshear stated in his update that eligible Kentuckians are urged to get the new booster shots for protection against the omicron COVID-19 sub-variants as they spread across Kentucky. The boosters are recommended for all people under 12 years of age who received their last Covid-19 vaccine dose at least two months ago. The updated booster shots are available at health departments, doctor’s offices, and pharmacies. Locations may be found at www.vaccines.gov.

The weekly Covid-19 update released on Monday for the state of Kentucky located at www.chfs.ky.gov states there were 12,830 new cases recorded in the state over the previous week, along with 78 Covid-19-related deaths. As of Monday, there were 629 individuals hospitalized across the state due to the virus, with 102 people in ICU and 36 on ventilators. The positivity rate in Kentucky was 18.40 percent on Monday.

The Harlan County Health Department recommends following these guidelines to help slow the spread of Covid-19:

• Get vaccinated.

• Isolate when sick or testing positive for Covid-19.

• Stay up to date on vaccine boosters.

• Consider targeted mask use following exposures or if you are a person at high risk for severe disease.