Pandemic spread shows signs of easing

Tentative signs that the pandemic may be loosening its hold were on Governor Mark Gordon’s mind during his recent press conference, including a slow drop in the number of active COVID-19 cases across Wyoming. The percentage of tests that come back positive has increased slightly, however, with a 14-day average at 3.2% last week, up from around 2.8%.

“I do think that Wyoming is indeed cautiously on the right track,” said the governor.

Two items are still marked as concerning on the state’s metrics chart, which is used to guide decision-making, but the state is seeing a relatively stable number of new daily cases. A quarter of these new cases are in 19-29 year olds, with transmission likely to be linked to smaller social events.

“I do hope that we continue on this trend and that we can carry this into the fall”, he said, especially with kids going back to school.

State health officer Dr. Alexia Harrist confirmed that the state penitentiary is currently experiencing an outbreak, with 22 inmates and 16 members of staff testing positive. Three staff members in the Torrington facility have also tested positive and all possible steps are being taken to limit the spread.

Nine communities are now on board with the wastewater testing program, she said, with “many more pending”. By testing wastewater for signs of the virus, Harrist explained that it is possible to monitor prevalence within a community and hopefully prevent or curb outbreaks.

At this time, said Harrist, all the communities being tested are showing some signs of the virus being present.

Harrist asked Wyomingites to be especially careful over the next few weeks as kids return to school.

“Schools are important to our communities for many reasons,” she said, expressing that being in school is healthy and important but we need to make sure our children and teachers are safe.

“We have some powerful tools at our disposal,” Harrist said. While powerful, she continued, they are also simple: stay home if sick, keep physically apart and wear a face covering when social distancing isn’t possible.

These are the tools we can use to protect our kids and teachers, she said. Harrist commented that it makes her sad that people see them as insidious or “something more than the best tools we have”.

Yes, said Harrist, there will be some cases in the schools. Using these tools, however, the entire community can help to keep infection rates lower and more manageable.

Crook County faces a unique challenge this week as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally gets into full swing – reported by some international news outlets to be the largest gathering that has taken place since the pandemic began. On Monday, however, the county had still managed to maintain its low record of just ten cases, all of which have recovered.

The state released detailed information last week on how the $1.25 billion of CARES Act federal funding has so far been allocated. As of that time, said the governor, $710 million has been allocated, and the state is, “Working diligently to get that money where it’s most needed.”

So far, just over 46% of the funding has been spent on economic and business relief, including agriculture, in the form of three programs for affected businesses, support for remote workers and personal protective equipment (PPE) for businesses.

Education has received 15.55% of the funding through support for the University of Wyoming’s fall return plan, the cost for the Wyoming Community College Commission to reopen, food security, PPE for K-12 and tech needs for distance learning.

Broadband and communications infrastructure has received just over 14% of the funding with the launch of ConnectWyoming, an initiative that aims to improve broadband access and thus access to telehealth, the ability to telework and access to distance education.

Testing and contact tracing has been allocated just below 8.5% of the funding, while unemployment and workers’ compensation has received just under 6% and local government support for such services as mental health, substance abuse evaluations and public health nursing staffing has been allocated around 5%.

The remaining 5% of the funding has gone to support the judicial and legislative branches, state agencies’ COVID-19 response and eviction prevention and support.