FIRST ON 40: Warren County declares state of emergency

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon and Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson declared a county-wide state of emergency due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

This declaration allows Buchanon and Wilkerson to take any steps necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public in Warren County and Bowling Green.

The sooner a county declares a state of emergency, the sooner that county could be eligible to access emergency funding but that could be many months away, county emergency management director Ronnie Pearson said.

“Unusual circumstances such as this event sometimes call for unusual application of resources,” Pearson said.

Having this declaration filed, allows both the city and county to acquire emergency supplies quickly without having to go through the bid process, Wilkerson said Tuesday on Soky Sunrise.

Warren County does not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 and neither do other adjacent counties, Wilkerson said.

Note: This story has been corrected from an earlier version.