From the community meeting room at the Harrison County health center, eight employees are constantly making calls.

They've asked close to 150 people to self-quarantine amid Kentucky's coronavirus outbreak, and twice daily, they're checking each resident for signs of illness.

It's exactly what the employees have been trained to do should an infectious disease begin spreading through their community. But with the coronavirus reaching more counties by the day, local health leaders statewide say they've never dealt with an emergency of this kind.

"I was around in a different health department when H1N1 happened in 2009," said Andrea Brown, public health director of the Bourbon County Health Department. "That was different than this because ... researchers and the scientists had a better idea of how to test it, and a vaccine was made readily available fairly quickly.

"This is definitely on a different scale than what we've dealt with in the past."

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Brown and other health department directors said much of their response to the coronavirus mirrors what they would do for an outbreak of any infectious disease — from measles to chicken pox.

But they've had to up their efforts to monitor hundreds of people who may have come in contact with the virus through travel or community spread.

As of Monday, 26 people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 in Kentucky.

At least 215 people who were in close contact with those patients — or who had traveled to high-risk countries — are self-quarantining until they're cleared of symptoms, according to numbers provided by four health departments.

Kentucky coronavirus live updates:Get the latest information here

Coronavirus tracker:How many coronavirus cases are in Kentucky? Where are they?

Local health leaders have defined close contact as spending anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours within 6 feet of a person who was later diagnosed with the coronavirus.

At the Clark County Health Department, seven people spent Monday morning attempting to contact residents who fit that description after the community's first case was confirmed Sunday, according to Jennifer Gulley, a nurse and public information officer for the department.

Gulley said it's standard protocol for health departments to launch contact investigations after an infectious disease is reported. And employees undergo annual training in preparation for widespread outbreaks.

"Sometimes that's maybe underappreciated — the planning and preparation that has to be done to be ready for these types of events," she said. "It doesn't get noticed until something like this comes onto the scene and takes our attention."

The current response is most similar to what health officials would do for tuberculosis cases, said Terrie Burgan, a spokesperson for the Lincoln Trail District Health Department, which is monitoring one coronavirus case in Nelson County.

"It's nothing new here at all as far as the process," she said. "... We are here to provide guidance and to assist in getting information out to the public as much as we can."

Burgan and other health representatives stressed that they're doing everything they can to prevent the spread of the coronavirus — but they can't be solely responsible for keeping the disease under control.

"Everything (the governor is) saying is what we need to do," said Allison Napier, public health director for the Montgomery County Health Department. "That's what's going to stop the spread. We know it's here."

Public health is strapped for resources, said Brown of Bourbon County.

So health departments are asking people to call their providers before showing up and to remain patient while more tests are made available.

"It's challenging, but it's what we were built to do, so we'll do it and we'll do it until it's done," she said.

As of March 17, the following cases have been reported:

• 6 individuals in Harrison County — a 27-year-old female (who has recovered), a 54-year-old female, a 51-year-old male, a 67-year-old female, a 60-year-old male and a 68-year-old male.

• 7 individuals in Fayette County — a 40-year-old female, a 46-year-old male, a 31-year-old female, a 47-year-old male, a 31-year-old male, 74-year-old male and a 33-year-old female

• 7 individuals in Jefferson County — a 69-year-old male, a 67-year-old female, a 68-year-old female, an 80-year-old female, and a 73-year-old female, a 54-year-old male and a 34-year-old female

• 2 individual in Montgomery County — a 56-year-old male and a 51-year-old male

• 1 individual in Nelson County — a 53-year-old male

• 1 individual in Clark County — a 49-year-old male

• 1 individual in Bourbon County — a 66-year-old male, who has died.

• 1 individual in Lyon County — 69-year-old male

For the most updated coronavirus cases, go to HERE.

Reporter Bailey Loosemore writes about changes taking place in neighborhoods across the Louisville region — and what they mean for the people who live here. Does a change in your community represent a challenge or opportunity? Let her know at bloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: https://www.courier-journal.com/baileyl.