Bell County reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with a total of 79 new cases reported on Saturday and Sunday.

Bell County Judge-Executive Albey Brock addressed the high number of cases in Bell County.

“Based just on our local statistics it’s obvious COVID-19 is ravaging the unvaccinated,” Brock said. “At this point we have to continue praying for those that get Covid to have mild symptoms and that we don’t lose anymore loved ones. I fully understand that many have very strong personal feelings about getting vaccinated and wearing a mask.  I humbly encourage that group to please be careful. It should be obvious to everyone that Covid is very real and can be deadly.”

According to the Bell County Health Department, two additional deaths were reported on Thursday, bringing the number of COVID-19 related deaths in Bell County to 60. The deaths have occurred in individuals ranging in age from 36 to 88 years of age. Of the 60 deaths recorded in Bell County, two were vaccinated and 58 were unvaccinated.

As of Monday, there were 30 individuals hospitalized in Bell County due to the virus, with 29 of those being non vaccinated. The ages of the hospitalized ranged from 23 to 91 years of age. There were 724 active individual cases in Bell County on Monday.

According to the state’s website at https://kentucky.gov, Governor Andy Beshear announced the arrival of a federal medical team in the state to support health care workers and residents by increasing staffing and the ability to open more hospital beds.

“We are pursuing every opportunity to increase our capacity to respond to this deadly surge and to assist our health care facilities and staff, which are strained caring for our fellow Kentuckians with record hospitalizations and critically ill patients,” said Gov. Beshear. “Thank you to our health care heroes and National Guard teams who continue to serve on the front lines and thank you to the federal government for their continued assistance during this dangerous time in the pandemic.”

The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) team has been mobilized to assist through Sept. 17 and consists of four registered nurses, three paramedics, a medical officer, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, supply officer and a respiratory therapist.

According to the daily COVID-19 report at www.chfs.ky.gov, Kentucky reported 5,111 new cases on Monday, and 24 new deaths. There were 2,365 individuals hospitalized across the state due to the virus, with 661 people in ICU and 425 on a ventilator.

Kentucky’s positivity rate was 13.17 percent on Monday.

The Bell County Health Department recommends the following steps to help slow the spread of Covid 19:

• Wash hand with soap and water before eating, after blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing, or after using the restroom;

• Avoid contact with people who are sick;

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth;

• Wear a mask when in public and social distancing is difficult.