The Lake Cumberland District Health Department (LCDHD) at the current time has experienced 107 Positive/Presumptive Positive cases in our 10-county district.­ Regardless of the confirmed case count for any Lake Cumberland County, we believe COVID-19 to be widespread. LCDHD is working with the Kentucky Department for Public Health to identify and contact all those who may have come in contact with them.

Today was a difficult day as we experienced our fourth COVID-19 related death. We have now had two deaths in Pulaski and two in Adair. We are closely monitoring the situations at Summit Manor Nursing Home in Adair, and Fair Oaks Nursing Home in Russell. We want to express our gratitude to all local responders, agencies and long-term care facilities for your cooperation.

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person:

Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).

Respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

Personal Prevention Measures:

Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water aren’t readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick with a fever, coughing, sneezing, and having difficulty breathing.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

If you are over 60 or have underlying medical conditions that may make catching the disease more dangerous, please stay home as much as possible at this time.

Purchase several weeks’ worth of medications and supplies in case you need to stay home for prolonged periods of time and to decrease the number of trips to purchase supplies.

Community Prevention Measures:

Practice social distancing of at least 6 feet from others in public.

Implement environmental surface cleaning measures in homes, businesses, and other locations. Wipe down frequently touched surfaces and objects. Use regular household cleaning spray or wipes as recommended by the CDC.

In following with Governor Andy Beshears’ order, no social gatherings such as church services, funerals, weddings, etc. will be permitted.

Retail businesses are closed except for those exempted by the Governor’s order. Those that remain open must observe social distancing for staff and customers. Restaurants are closed except for drive-through and delivery. No dining room service is allowed.

What to do if you feel ill:

If you have developed a fever or respiratory symptoms and believe you have had exposure to a known case or traveled to an area with community spread, isolate yourself from others in your home and call your healthcare provider or local health departmentto describe your symptoms and any recent travel before you go to the healthcare facility.

If you feel ill enough to need a doctor’s care, please call your healthcare provider prior to showing up at their office. If you want to be tested for the COVID-19, call the provider to see if they are offering testing prior to going to their office. All providers will screen you for symptoms prior to deciding to do further testing. Many providers will require a flu and/or strep test prior to testing for COVID-19. No testing is being done on non-symptomatic patients. If you feel you need emergency treatment, please call the hospital prior to arrival to alert them to your symptoms.

Stay home when you are sick. Do not leave home until you have been fever-free for at least 72 hours without any fever-reducing medication, your other symptoms have improved, AND at least 7 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.

LCDHD Response:

What we have done:

Implemented our Department Operations Center and are at a level 1 (full activation)

Provided frequent updates to our Board of Directors, local community partners, media, and the public.

Received two distributions from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and delivered Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Emergency Operation Centers.

Reduced our health department clinics to essential services only.

Provided information packets to all primary care physicians in our region with information on COVID-19.

Provided information packets to most/all local businesses.

Helped to monitor PPE inventory at local hospitals.

Analyzed outbreak models to assess projected community health care needs and local health department capacity.

Residential mailing sent out giving information on COVID-19.

Provided local businesses in our district with packets containing information on COVID-19.

Met digitally with local nursing homes to provide guidance and recommendations for active cases.

Met with personal care homes and jails to provide prevention plans, guidance, and recommendations on a future first case.

Outreach to Amish community.

What we are doing:

Performing case and close contact investigations and issuing isolation and quarantine orders for positive COVID-19 cases and high-risk close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Responding to issues of non-compliance with the Governor’s order to close down businesses specifically told to shut down for a period of time and also operating businesses not complying with precautionary measures.

Providing weekly meetings to update the media and public on COVID-19 in our region.

Evaluating local hospital ventilator and isolation room capacity.

Planning for mass immunization clinics once a vaccine is available in our area.

Working with healthcare partners to increase testing capacity.

Asking for donation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the community at large.

To help answer questions, the Kentucky Department of Public Health has created a hotline to answer questions at 1-800-722-5725.

Additional information can also be obtained by going to their COVID-19 website at https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/pages/covid19.aspx

The CDC also has a COVID-19 website that can be reached here:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

Lake Cumberland District Health Department’s website can be reached here:

https://www.lcdhd.org