Associated Press

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Three more cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in Kentucky, bringing the state's total to four, Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday.

The first patient to test positive for the virus, worked at a Walmart in Cynthiana, Beshear said.

Six coworkers who worked closely with the patient have self-isolated themselves and none have shown symptoms of the illness, health officials said.

“For everybody who has been through that Wal-Mart, I know it’s going to make you nervous," the governor said at a statehouse press conference. “Just because you’ve been there doesn’t mean that you have the coronavirus. We have to stay calm.”

The first Kentucky patient diagnosed with the illness is improving, Beshear said.

Three more cases in Kentucky

Beshear said state lab tests confirmed the latest positive cases in Fayette, Harrison and Jefferson counties. Fayette and Jefferson counties are the two most populous counties in Kentucky. Their county seats are Lexington and Louisville, respectively.

The second Harrison County patient who tested positive for the virus is linked to the first case, but not through Walmart, the governor said.

Beshear said all three of the individuals are in isolation. He said no further information would be released.

“We are ready for this,” Beshear said in a video broadcast on Facebook. “We have been preparing with every minute that we've had to make sure that we can respond and respond appropriately.”

Mayor Greg Fischer said at press conference about an hour later in Louisville that it was a "matter of time" before the city saw a confirmed coronavirus case, the Courier-Journal reported.

Kentucky's first case of the new coronavirus was announced Friday, a patient from Harrison County in northern Kentucky who is in isolation at a hospital in Lexington.

As a preventative measure, Harrison county's public schools superintendent will be closing the school system for part of this coming week, and perhaps the entire week, Beshear has said. Nursing homes are recommended to close to visitors and public gatherings should be delayed in the county with a population of more than 18,000, the governor said.

The governor has declared a state of emergency to ensure all state entities have the necessary resources to respond. The declaration sets up a central, coordinated response, he said.

Beshear said 21 individuals have been tested for the virus in Kentucky and 17 tests have come back negative.

Map: Coronavirus in the USA

The Kentucky cases come as Tennessee officials announce two new cases in Nashville and Memphis, bringing the statewide total for the dangerous virus to three.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper confirmed the first case of the virus in Davidson County. In Shelby County, Mayor Lee Harris revealed the infection of a non-elderly adult resident who recently traveled to another state and is now hospitalized. A Williamson County who is quarantined with mild symptoms was announced as the first coronavirus case in Tennessee on Thursday.

Coronavirus cases continued to spread across the United States over the weekend with confirmed cases surpassing 550 across 34 states and the district of Columbia, USA Today reported Monday.

In Georgia, 11 residents tested positive for the COVID-19, five of those tests have been confirmed by the federal government, the Georgia Department of Public Health said late Sunday.

The statement said the four new presumptive positive tests, in addition to two earlier, are awaiting confirmation by the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All of the new cases are from the greater Atlanta area.

- Tennessean staff and USA Today contributed to this report