Gov. Andy Beshear announced Kentucky's first coronavirus case at an unexpected press conference Friday evening.

The patient is receiving treatment in isolation at a health care facility in Lexington, he said. The results were finalized at the state laboratory late Friday afternoon.

Harrison County Judge-Executive Alex Barnett confirmed Friday night that the patient is a resident of his county that is located just north of Lexington.

Barnett joined Beshear, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Cynthiana Mayor James Smith and several state and local health officials on Saturday afternoon in Frankfort for a news conference about the case.

A spokesman for the University of Kentucky confirmed Friday evening that the patient is being treated at UK's Albert B. Chandler Hospital, after testing "presumptive positive for COVID-19." The patient is not a member of the UK community, spokesman Jay Blanton said.

Beshear said Saturday that the patient was first treated at Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana.

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While the patient had been in "serious condition," Beshear said "we have the good news that they are improving."

Citing privacy laws, Beshear and other officials declined to give any further details about the patient, their condition, when they were first treated or any travel they may have recently done.

Further details will be provided into next week, Beshear said.

"At this point, we expect more cases of the coronavirus to be confirmed in Kentucky, and we believe that we will have additional cases in Harrison County," Beshear said Saturday.

Harrison County Schools will close for "at least a portion of (next) week, if not the full week," Beshear said.

Nursing homes in the county will also be closed to visitors next week, Beshear said, and the state is recommending that any public gatherings be delayed in the county.

Beshear added that the state is not advising any businesses to close.

"To our Kentucky families out there that are nervous, this is what we've been preparing for and we are ready," Beshear said Friday. "There's no need to panic. I get that it's scary. I'm a dad of two great young children. But we will face this; we will face this together. We have amazing health care providers in Kentucky that are ready to respond. We will protect each other.

"We didn't want to see a confirmation in Kentucky, but we knew it was coming," he said.

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Beshear said 10 people in Kentucky had been tested for the virus. The nine others came back negative.

Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said the state's epidemiologists need time to do their research, which includes a process called "contact tracing."

"The epidemiologists will now go through a really methodical process," he said. "They'll identify more information about the patient who's currently being treated, they'll identify where that person was leading up (to) the illness and until the time of being treated, they'll find and people they were in contact with, any travel history. ... They do a very detailed, very methodical approach."

Beshear said he has declared a state of emergency to allow access to greater resources to respond to the virus.

"About five minutes ago, I filed a state of emergency so that we would have every tool that we could need to address this issue and ultimately to protect our people," Beshear said. "We have activated our Emergency Operations Center. It is currently at level four, which is our lowest level."

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Beshear said that the emergency declaration connects the powers of all of the state's cabinets and sets up a central, coordinated response. It also allows for the activation of the National Guard and its resources, if and when it is needed.

"Declaring a state of emergency certainly doesn't mean any family should panic," Beshear said. "It just means we're going to be ready and I want to make sure that every single resource we could need we have right now."

Beshear said he's ready to tap into Kentucky's share of funding from a federal response package signed by President Donald Trump on Friday. Beshear said he'd also seek additional funding from the legislature, if necessary.

Officials said Saturday that a coronavirus hotline can be reached at 1-800-722-5725.

Stack, the public health commissioner, urged Kentuckians who may be experiencing symptoms of the virus to first call their health care provider or seek emergency care if needed.

Stack added that if Kentuckians feel they have a fever, cough or other ailments that "you would not normally go to a doctor's office" for, then they should not "congest hospitals and doctors' offices" just because of coronavirus fears.

Instead, getting enough rest at home and taking Tylenol, for example, is recommended, Stack said.

In light of the state's first case of the coronavirus, Lexington residents should carry on with regular activities as planned, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said Friday evening.

"Right now we are urging people to go about their business," Gorton said. "It's just if you feel sick, stay home. ... I personally have several events for the weekend and I will attending them."

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Kentucky's news came just six hours after Indiana announced its first case Friday morning. Tennessee announced its first case Thursday.

The virus has now been reported in more than 20 states. Other states that have seen cases include Washington, California, Texas, Illinois, New York, Florida and North Carolina.

The Indiana patient is an adult man who lives in Marion County — where Indianapolis is located — and had recently traveled to Boston.

Officials said the man called the hospital Thursday night, concerned that he had COVID-19 symptoms. He was taken through a side entrance and did not have any contact with other patients or caregivers. He is being isolated away from the hospital and is in stable condition with mild symptoms of the virus.

The worldwide death count surpassed 3,400 this week, and the number of confirmed cases increased to more than 100,000. There have been more than 300 cases reported in the United States and at least 14 deaths.

Common signs of infection include fever, cough and breathing difficulties. If the infection worsens, it can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and death.

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Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courierjournal.com/subscribe.