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Lincoln County is now considered a ‘red’ county in the Kentucky Department of Health COVID-19 incident-rate map.
The map, which is published daily, classifies counties into four groups including ‘green,’ ‘yellow,’ ‘orange’ and ‘red.’
The map calculates the daily average of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days. To be placed in the red zone, a county must have more than 25 cases per 100,000 residents.
Lincoln County, which has hovered in the ‘orange’ zone lately, moved into the ‘red zone’ this week.
The Lincoln County Health Department was closed Tuesday for Election Day, but Director Diane Miller provided a COVID-19 update on the local radio station WPBK-FM on Friday.
As of Friday, there were 38 active cases: 18 from Crab Orchard; 13 from Stanford; four from Hustonville; two from Waynesburg; and one from Kings Mountain.
The county has reported a total of 421 cases since the start of the outbreak.
Miller said Friday there was one person currently hospitalized due to the coronavirus. There are 45 active cases being monitored, 42 of which are symptomatic. The health department was monitoring a total of 118 contacts as of Friday.
No new deaths were reported. A total of 23 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in Lincoln County; 18 of those deaths were Stanford Care and Rehabilitation long term care facility residents.
According to the Nov. 1 incident-rate map, Lincoln County reported a daily average of 25 cases per 100,000 residents, placing the county in the red zone.
Neighboring counties have also been placed in the red zone including Garrard County, which reported an average of 42.1 cases per 100,000 residents, and Rockcastle County which reported an average of 36.8 cases.
Local residents, businesses, government agencies and schools in red counties are being urged by the Department of Public Health to implement safety guidelines to help slow the spread of the virus.
The following guidelines are suggested for ‘red’ zone counties:
• Employers allow employees to work from home when possible
• Non-critical government offices to operate virtually
• Reduce in-person shopping; order online or curbside pickup
• Order take-out; avoid dining in restaurants or bars
• Prioritize businesses that follow and enforce mask mandate and other guidelines
• Reschedule, postpone or cancel public and private events
• Do not host or attend gatherings of any size
• Avoid non-essential activities outside of your home
• Reduce overall activity and contacts, and follow existing guidance.

SO YOU KNOW
The 7-Day incidence is calculated by taking the total number of unique cases in each county over the past 7 days, divided by 7 to get a daily average, divided by the U.S. census bureau county population, and multiplied by 100,000 to get the incidence per 100,000 people. The cases counted each day are based on the date an investigation was opened in NEDSS (i.e., National Electronic Disease Surveillance System). Duplicate cases are removed before the calculation, so each positive case is only included once. NOTE: State and local health department data will vary for a variety of reasons including data entry timing, communication processes, and 7-day averaging. (For more information visit kycovid19.gov.)