County Shares First Covid-19 “Cluster”

WARREN TAYLOR | Citizen Staff

Bourbon County is up to its highest number of active Covid-19 cases, according to Andrea Brown of the Bourbon County Health Department.

During the Sept. 24 Bourbon County Fiscal Court Meeting, Brown, the health department’s public health director, said that there were 29 active cases as of Thursday, which brought the total number of confirmed cases to 191.

For the week, the health department confirmed 18 positive tests, which Brown expected to rise.

“We’re trending to beat last week’s case count, but hopefully, I’m wrong,” said Brown.

Bourbon County also has its first Covid-19 cluster.

“We did have our first cluster case with the Kiwanis yard sale, and we did get five cases out of that,” Brown said.

The yard sale took place from Sept. 17-19 at the Legion Hall at Legion Park.

Bourbon County Judge-Executive Mike Williams said the building was locked on Monday, Sept. 21, to quarantine all the items inside. He also said that a cleaning crew would be in to sanitize the space over the weekend.

Director Brown also offered an update on the demographics of the pandemic.

“Gender is 56 percent female and 44 percent male. Our highest age group is still 18 to 30-year-olds,” she said.

So far, 161 Bourbon Countians have recovered, and there has been a single death linked with the virus.

Bourbon County Property Value Administrator Tim Lizer reported to the court that the county’s 2020 tax rate is $0.95627 per $100 valuations and $9.5627 per $1,000 valuation. The rate decreased from 2019 when it was $1.02196 per $100 valuation and $10.2196 per $1,000 valuation.

Fifty-nine percent of the revenue will go to local schools. 13 percent will go to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 11 percent will go to the Bourbon County Fiscal Court. Nine percent will go to the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library. Five percent will go to the Bourbon County Health Department. Three percent will go to the county extension, and less a percent will go toward soil conservation.

• The court voted to adopt a resolution to support and sponsor the effort to get a Community Development Block Grant for economic development for US Nitrile. The company, which makes PPE, is in the process of opening up in the Paris-Bourbon County Industrial Park.
• The court voted to adopt a resolution saying it would enter into an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to use flex funds to pave select county roads. Later in the meeting, the court voted to approve said agreement.
• The court voted to give Judge Williams permission to contact a temporary employment service for custodial support for the courthouse and justice center.
• The court heard the first reading of a resolution concerning a budget amendment regarding money the county will receive from a fund created by the CARES Act.