COVID-19: county reactivates emergency response

Over the past week, Wyoming has chalked up more than 2000 new cases of COVID-19 – more than the state saw over the entire first four months of the pandemic. With cases rising so quickly, Crook County has reactivated its emergency operations center.

“The incident management team decided that, due to the increase in Covid-19 activity, reactivating the EOC was necessary so that important issues could be addressed and confronted on a more timely and consistent basis,” said a press release from the emergency operations center.

“The incident management team felt that, with the increased activity that is taking place, it was necessary to delegate essential functions across agencies instead of Public Health having to bear the entire workload.”

The reactivation will reestablish the methods of contact and liaison between the public and government and increase efficiency. The emergency operations center will interact with the public through the press, social media and liaisons and will either evolve or devolve as the ongoing situation warrants.

The weekend saw two days in which Crook County recorded no new cases for the first time in just under two weeks. Over the week, however, 15 new cases were added to the local tally, bringing the total to 113.

Wyoming once again broke its record for new cases on Friday with a total of 431, a number that was almost matched on Monday at 421. Once again, over the past week there have been no days on which the new case number fell below 200 and, on five days, cases topped 300.

By Monday, active cases had topped the 5000 mark. This rise has been rapid; less than a week ago, on October 28, the active case count was at 3964.

Ten new deaths were reported in Wyoming on October 29 and six on November 3, bringing the overall total to 93.

All but two were older adults, while only three had not been confirmed to have health conditions that put them at greater risk.

Six of those deaths were recorded in long-term care facilities: three in Goshen, two in Natrona and one in Laramie County.

The state has seen an average of 200 cases per day over the last 14 days. Hospitalizations have been climbing sharply since the end of September, peaking at 132 on November 2.

In Crook County, two patients were hospitalized between October 24 and 26, then dropping to a single patient within the Sundance hospital. On October 31, this number dropped to zero.

“This surge in cases in our communities is directly impacting Wyoming’s healthcare system, our businesses and industries and straining our healthcare workforce,” Governor Mark Gordon said in a press release.

“This is the time to recognize that our actions impact others, their lives and livelihoods. All of us have a role to play in ensuring that our hospitals can continue to care for all patients, not just those suffering from COVID-19.”

In response to the worsening situation, the state has announced it has stepped up efforts to protect vulnerable populations, enhance contact tracing efforts and expand testing availability.

However, no additional restrictions have been announced at the same level, with the current health orders extended without changes for the next two weeks.