Christian County has its first confirmed case of COVID-19, the county health director said Thursday afternoon in a news conference where officials would not take questions from local reporters.
The patient is a 61-year-old woman. She was diagnosed through a local physician’s office after a commercial lab test was administered. She is self-quarantined at her home and doing well, said Christian County Health Director Kayla Bebout.
The health department is in the process of identifying people who might have come in direct contact with the woman. Direct contact means a person was within 6 feet of the woman for at least 20 to 30 minutes, said Bebout.
The health director stressed that the community should remain calm. Officials have expected the novel coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease COVID-19 would eventually occur in Christian County.
She also expressed frustration with rumors and misinformation.
It’s important for local health care providers to contact the health department if they order coronavirus tests for patients, she said.
Statewide, as of Thursday evening, there were 47 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Two people have died from the disease in Kentucky
In all, 639 tests have been administered.
Several local officials spoke at the news conference — including Christian County Emergency Manager Randy Graham, Jennie Stuart Health CEO Eric Lee, Mayor Wendell Lynch and County Judge-Executive Steve Tribble — but at the conclusion of their prepared remarks, Bebout declined to allow questions from any of the four news reporters present to cover the news conference.
She said there wasn’t time for questions because the health department needed to keep working to identify people who had close contact with the COVID-19 patient.
In a separate case, the health department previously confirmed that a Tennessee resident who was coaching students at the Bluegrass Cheercats gym on Eagle Way had tested positive for COVID-19. The gym worked with the health department to identify people who had close contact with the coach. Those people are self-isolating for 14 days, said health department spokeswoman Amanda Sweeney. No one in that group has become ill, she said.
Sweeney would not say how many people are self-isolating from the Bluegrass Cheercats case. It is also unclear how many people might have come in close contact with the 61-year-old woman.
“Unless you have been contacted by the Christian County Health Department, you are not considered a direct contact,” Bebout said.
Graham said local agencies have been practicing responses for a virus outbreak in Christian County.
When that happens, he said, “You are going to see a tremendous response effort.”
Lynch encouraged residents to practice social distancing and to not have meetings and gatherings during this period.
“I think we all understand this is really serious,” the mayor said. “There might have been some doubters early on but certainly there are hopefully no doubters any more.”
People should not fear that food supplies will run out, Lynch said.
And he addressed false information.
“We are not going to deal with rumors … only in facts,” he said.
The Hopkinsville Police Department has created a second station at the sportsplex to prepare for the possibility of officers becoming ill.
In addition, some city employees are working from home. The mayor encouraged local businesses to offer the same option to employees whenever possible.
Tribble said the county is restricting face-to-face business as much as possible. The county clerk’s office has a drop box at the front and rear of the courthouse where the public can leave papers for county business such as vehicle tag renewals.
After officiating at eight weddings this week, all of which had been scheduled for some time, Tribble said he is suspending weddings for the time being.
“We are just going to have to work together to beat this thing down … so our life can go back to the way it used to be,” Tribble said. “No one knows how long that will be.”
After Bebout said no questions would be taken, Hoptown Chronicle asked Lee if he would answer questions about the hospital’s preparations. He declined but said he would arrange another time for hospital officials to answer questions.
The Kentucky hotline for coronavirus information is (800) 722-5725. Local officials recommended the hotline and the state’s coronavirus website.
Updates are also available from Gov. Andy Beshear’s daily briefing, which he live-streams on his Facebook page at 4 p.m. (CT). He answers questions at the end of each briefing.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
