Clusters of COVID-19 cases in Whitley County

WHITLEY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - Whitley County health leaders are dealing with multiple clusters of COVID-19 cases.

Health Leaders say a cluster is defined as two or more cases in a single location.

The clusters are tied to a church near the Tennessee border and the sheriff's office.

It is unknown if the three cases tied to the sheriff’s office are law officers, office workers or others who have a business there.

Nine people were involved in the cluster at Saxon Independent Baptist Church. Some of these cases trickled into a youth camp in Tennessee causing another small cluster of cases.

Saxon Independent Baptist Church has gone back to virtual services because of the number of cases.

Health leaders say although all the cases vary, none of them appear to be severely sick.

“Some folks feel fine, some have mild symptoms, and some have quite severe symptoms. It is all over the map,” said Marcy Rein with the Whitley Co Health Department.

Due to the increase in cases in the county, Corbin Independent Schools will be providing three different options for the new school year. They also pushed their start date back to September 9th, which is two weeks later than planned.

David Cox from Corbin Independent Schools said the decision was made due to the increase in cases, “Since that time we have had a bit of a spike, we have had some numbers go up.”

Cox says he cannot remember ever starting school so late in September, and health leaders say it’s a difficult time to try and find the best option.

“All the things they have to do to get ready for school it is complicated and it is a tough situation to work out,” said Rein.

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