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COVID-19 continues to take a toll in Lincoln County.

As of Tuesday, the county had five residents die from the virus over a three-day period. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reported on Saturday, Aug. 29 that three Lincoln County residents had died. Those included an 86-year-old woman and two men, ages 81 and 94.

A single death was recorded on Sunday and Monday, with the victims being an 82-year-old man and a 61-year-old man respectively.

Lincoln County Health Department Director Diane Miller was not available for comment on the local deaths.

As of Monday evening, Beshear reported that there have now been 48,396 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 381 of which were newly reported Monday. Forty-three of the newly reported cases were from children ages 18 and younger, of which two were children ages 5 and under. The youngest was a 1-year-old from Madison County.

“We always have lower numbers on Sundays and Mondays, due to lab closures over the weekend. But the White House report for this week still has 59 of our 120 counties in the red or yellow zone,” said Gov. Beshear. “We don’t want any of our counties in either. Let’s remember how serious this is and not act like everything is normal.”

Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear reported three new deaths Monday, raising the total to 933 Kentuckians lost to the virus.

The deaths reported Monday include a 61-year-old man from Lincoln County; a 72-year-old woman from Martin County; and a 65-year-old man from Owen County.

“When we make bad decisions, most often somebody else pays for it, and can pay for it with their lives,” said Gov. Beshear.

As of Monday, there have been at least 877,443 coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky. The positivity rate currently stands at 4.42%. At least 10,375 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.