COVID-19 cases continued to surge last week in Warren County, prompting Gov. Andy Beshear to label the area a “growing hotspot” for the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

A high demand for tests means that a testing site that opened at South Warren High School will continue this week. Officials have asked those seeking tests, which are made possible through a partnership with Kroger, to register for appointments online at thelittleclinic.com/drivethru-testing.

The South Warren High School facility ended the week Friday by testing 337 people that day, Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon told the Daily News in a text message Saturday. The week began Tuesday with at least 70 out of 350 people registered for tests failing to show up, but by Friday, Buchanon said, there were “very few no-shows.”

“(It’s) getting better each day,” he said.

According to an update offered by the Barren River District Health Department on Friday, the latest one available as of Saturday afternoon, nearly 150 cases had been confirmed in the area by the department since April 24, just one week earlier.

On Friday, the department announced a total of 553 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in its eight-county district.

The case totals on the department’s website stood Saturday at 352 in Warren, 107 in Butler, 32 in Edmonson, 26 in Simpson, 16 in Barren, 11 in Logan, eight in Hart and one in Metcalfe. There were 18 cases in Allen County, which is not one of the counties the Barren River department represents.

A news release from the BRDHD said 118 individuals had recovered from COVID-19. The region’s virus-related death toll stood at eight reported deaths Saturday.

Beshear did not offer a daily COVID-19 case update, opting instead to take the day off. It was his first absence since March 6, when the state’s first case was confirmed.

As of Friday, the state’s case total stood at 4,879, with 248 deaths to COVID-19. More than 57,000 people have been tested in the state.

Several protests were scheduled to take place Saturday in Frankfort at the state Capitol to demand the reopening of the economy, including a “Kentucky Freedom Rally.”

On Saturday, protesters gathered in the hundreds, hoisting American and Confederate flags. At one point, urged on by organizer Lee Watts, they collectively removed their face masks, the Courier-Journal in Louisville reported.

“I’m encouraged to see all of you here today,” Watts reportedly said. “When freedom is not protected, it is lost. It warms my heart to see so many freedom-loving Kentuckians here today.”