Clinton County had the most up and down week in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic last week since the virus first arrived in Kentucky in March.

As of Tuesday morning, Clinton County was listed as having 11 current cases of COVID-19, according to the Lake Cumberland District Health Department, compared to the 12 cases it had a week earlier.

However, the seven days in between has been a roller coaster ride for Clinton County cases, as during that time frame, the county at one point reached its highest number thusfar, with current cases hitting 18 on Friday and Saturday.

That situation followed four consecutive days of new cases being confirmed by LCDHD for Clinton County, including nine being added during a four day stretch.

However, the local caseload situation immediately experienced three consecutive days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, when no new cases were reported by the agency, while seven cases were released on Sunday and Monday, bringing the total of current cases by Tuesday morning to 11.

At one point during the past week, two patients from Clinton County were listed as being hospitalized, but by Monday morning, one of those patients had been released and only one local patient remained under treatment in a hospital.

However, Lake Cumberland cases continued to spike as the 10 county district ended the past week on Monday showing its highest ever number of current cases with 270.

That number of current cases represented an increase of nearly 100 new cases over the week, with the previous week ending last Monday showing 185 current cases.

On Tuesday morning of this week, of the 270 current cases across the district, 21 were listed as being hospitalized, with 249 in self-isolation.

In addition to Clinton County’s 11 current cases, other county case numbers were (hospitalized cases shown in parenthesis):Adair 16 (0); Casey 17 (2); Cumberland 15 (0); Green 49 (2); McCreary 17 (1); Pulaski 83 (6); Russell 20 (2); Taylor 35 (6); Wayne 7 (1).

LCDHD spokesperson Amy Tomlinson noted in the daily public information briefing press release that the agency felt many of the new cases during the past week could be tied to the start of schools in many districts.

“As is expected, the number of cases with ties back to a school is increasing. Counting public and private schools and colleges, we have cases tied back to 18 school locations. We know the area schools are doing the very best they can to keep our children safe,” Tomlinson said. “Time will tell if the ones that have elected to return to in-person instruction during a pandemic can be successful.”

She also said that a considerable number of the new cases could also be tied to long-term care facilities within the district.

“We also have cases tied back to nine long-term care/residential facilities with clusters in four of those facilities (two of them with substantial clusters),” she noted.