Construction workers at the Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel facility were among Christian County’s largest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases, but it remains unclear how many of those workers were affected because local health officials have so far withheld that information from the public.
A spokeswoman for Churchill Downs, which owns the harness racing and casino property, released a statement Friday to Hoptown Chronicle that acknowledges a coronavirus outbreak there.
“We are aware of reported positive cases involving subcontracted workers on our site and are currently working in close coordination with their employer as well as local and state health officials to abide by all necessary protocols to mitigate the spread of infections as well as to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved on the project,” the statement reads. It was provided by Tonya Abeln, vice president for communications at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
On Thursday, the Christian County Health Department reported the county’s fourth death related to COVID-19 and a surge in coronavirus cases, from 182 to 225 in one day. Department spokeswoman Amanda Sweeney followed up with a news release Friday that stated, in part, “The spike in numbers is related to a small outbreak at a worksite in the county, in addition to several non-related clusters within the community. The statistics reported are for Christian County residents only.”
The health department has not identified the Oak Grove facility as the worksite. Instead, that confirmation came from Churchill’s statement.
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No one from the health department has responded to an email from this news outlet requesting, among other things, a clarification of “small outbreak.”
It is not known how many of the 43 newly confirmed cases on Thursday were from the Oak Grove worksite, or if some workers tested positive but weren’t included in the local case numbers because they reside outside of Christian County.
Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March, the local health department has declined several times to identify public locations associated with an employee who tested positive for the virus. In some cases, those locations, including Hopkinsville Community College and the Christian County Public Schools’ feeding program, have volunteered on their own to release information. Following an outbreak early in the pandemic at Western State Hospital, state officials provided information to the public.
Thursday’s surge did not appear to have a significant impact on Jennie Stuart Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman said Friday that Jennie Stuart was treating three patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 and there were no additional patients in the hospital awaiting a test result.
Meanwhile, the health department is urging the public to practice measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Those include wearing a mask in public, frequent hand-washing and maintaining at least 6 feet fo space between people.
Sweeney, in the news release, said more case spikes are possible as the state goes through a phased reopening of the economy.
Cases continue to climb across the country. On Friday, with more than 40,000 new cases, the U.S. set a record for the third time in three days. Tennessee was among 12 states that set new records for average number of new cases over seven days, the Washington Post reported.
Following Thursday’s local spike, the health department reported just one new case Friday. The total of 226 includes 75 active cases, 147 recovered and four deaths.
The number of confirmed, active cases by age group are:
- Youth (0-21): 10
- Young Adult-Middle Age (22-59): 55
- Older Adult (60-84): 10
- Elderly (85+): 0
(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.
