Positive COVID-19 case closes courthouse

This marks the third time a positive case has forced all or part of the courthouse to close.

For the third time in two months, a positive case of COVID-19 is affecting operations in the Christian County Clerk’s Office.

All of the clerk’s offices in the county courthouse will be closed Monday and Tuesday to sanitize the building after a positive case in the office, according to an announcement posted over the weekend on the clerk’s Facebook page. Following a planned closure on Wednesday for Veteran’s Day, the office will reopen on Thursday, unless additional positive cases are confirmed among staff, the announcement states. 

In mid-September, the clerk’s deed and vehicle registration offices were temporarily closed when some employees were exposed to at least one person who had tested positive. 

Then, shortly before the start of early voting on Oct. 13, three employees in the elections division tested positive for the virus, and officials had to cancel plans for early voting at the courthouse. 

Christian County remains in the critical red zone for community transmission of the virus. As of Saturday, there had been 160 new cases confirmed in the past seven days. 

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.