Hoptown

This marks the sixth year for Hopkinsville's walking challenge, an idea Wally Bryan brought to the health department in hopes it would help local residents improve their health.

Trash collections will run one day late, the Hopkinsville Solid Waste Authority announced.

It's the fifth-highest daily total reported by the department since the pandemic began in mid-March.

Health professionals urge the use of masks because they reduce the spread of droplets that are expelled when a person breathes, coughs and sneezes. The virus is carried in droplets.

Seventeen residents and five staff members at Christian Health Center were listed as active for the virus on Friday.

Nearly one-third of the district’s 8,710 students are already enrolled in the Virtual Learning Academy or signed up this week to opt out of in-person instruction.

As the county sees the lowest seven-day rolling average in nearly two months, health officials urge residents to continue following guidelines in order to avoid another post-holiday weekend surge.

Superintendent Chris Bentzel will propose students return to the classroom soon after Labor Day, with the exception of those enrolled in the Virtual Learning Academy.

While the county has seen an apparent plateau recently, more than a third of all coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in mid-March have been reported within the last month.

The total number of local cases includes 220 classified as active and 660 classified as recovered.

Christian County was among 14 counties in the White House Coronavirus Task Force report's "red zone," where new cases of the virus numbered more than one per 1,000 residents and the share of residents who tested positive during the week was over 10%.

Among the new cases, there were 43 children ages 18 and younger.