The Christian County Health Department has hired three additional employees to do contact tracing in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The state provided funding for the staffers, who trace people who have come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the health department announced Tuesday in a news release.
The additional staffing comes as the county’s number of coronavirus cases increases.
“Since May 17, the community has seen an increase in weekly cases. In the last 14 days, the county is averaging a little over two cases per day,” health department spokeswoman Amanda Sweeney said in a news release. “Any time two or more cases are diagnosed within a facility or workplace, these cases are referred to as clusters/ Whenever clusters are identified, the state may be involved in additional investigation processes.”
Contact tracers “help ensure the safe, sustainable and effective quarantine of direct contacts to prevent additional transmission,” she said. They will not ask anyone for a Social Security number or credit card information.
The health department reported Tuesday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by five from since Sunday, pushing the total to 160. The total includes 34 active cases and 123 recovered, in addition to the three deaths that were reported on April 8.
The number of cases by age group since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in mid=March are
- Youth (0-21): 12
- Young Adult-Middle Age (22-59): 108
- Older Adult (60-84): 37
- Elderly (85+): 3
By race, the confirmed cases include 118 white residents, 41 black and one Asian.
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
