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Another Clark County resident has died because of the coronavirus.

The victim, the county’s ninth, was 29 years old, according to County Public Health Director Becky Kissick.

“Our thoughts are with the family as they mourn the loss,” she said.

“Please remain vigilant in your efforts to protect the health and safety of your loved ones and all those in our community,” she pleaded.

As of 4 p.m. Monday, the Health Department had confirmed seven new cases, as well as two on Sunday and three on Saturday. In total, Kissick said, four individuals have also met the criteria for recovery.

The department is working 36 of the cumulative total of 434 positive cases identified in Clark County this year.

In his daily briefing, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 496 new coronavirus cases in Kentucky, bringing the total to almost 67,000. Eighty-three of the new cases were children 18 and younger, 20 of whom were 5 or younger. The youngest was 6 months old.

He also reported five new deaths Monday, raising the total in the state to 1,162 lives lost to the virus.

“Last week we had almost 5,000 cases in Kentucky – the most we have ever had,” Beshear said.

The governor said it seems both the state and nation are seeing “the start of a new escalation” in COVID-19 infections.

“As we come toward a fall season and winter, where more people are going to be inside and we know the virus spreads faster, we’ve got to do better than this. We can’t be casual right now,” he said.

Another factor, he said, is that Kentuckians “have become more casual” about their concerns and “following the rules and guidelines,” and if that occurs, there will be “alarming trends” in the virus.