Coronavirus cases rise in county

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Crook County recently, all of which are still active. Meanwhile, the number of active cases across Wyoming continues to rise and several warning notices have been issued in South Dakota about potential exposures during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

The newest case in Crook County was identified on August 24 and is hospitalized in another state, while the other three patients are isolated at their homes. Three of the four cases are symptomatic.

No exposure site has been identified for any of the four cases at this time. None of the cases are linked, according to Crook County Public Health; all four are completely separate.

However, Public Health believes there is no evidence of community spread. The new cases bring Crook County’s cumulative total to 14 since the pandemic hit Wyoming.

According to Interim CEO Micki Lyons of Crook County Medical Services District, CCMSD is still following its protocols for outdoor visitation in the long term care unit, but has not been able to move ahead into the next stages of opening up.

“Part of the issue at this point is that they are mandating testing in LTC facilities, but we can’t get the supplies to do the testing so we’ve kind of been on hold,” Lyons reported to the board of trustees on Friday.

The lab, however, has been extremely busy, Lyons said. While much of this is day-to-day testing, it is partly due to COVID-19. People have been requesting tests in order to travel to certain states, she explained, and testing is also required before surgery and if a person shows any symptoms.

State Stats

Across Wyoming, the daily numbers of new cases have remained relatively high over the last week. The highest recorded number occurred on Friday, when 54 new cases were reported.

This has also pushed up the number of active cases in the state. This statistic stood at 521 on Wednesday but had risen again to 646 by Sunday – the highest recorded number yet.

The number of deaths has also increased over the last week. On August 18, the death of an adult male from Fremont County was announced by the Wyoming Department of Health.

On August 21, three deaths were reported: a Sublette County resident who died in a long term care facility in Utah, a Carbon County resident who died in a long term care facility in Florida; and an older male from Laramie County.

Hospitalizations due to the coronavirus, which had begun to drop, once again peaked at 20 on Monday. The highest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began was 23 on April 20 and 21.

Sturgis Rally

While the impact of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on infections in this area may never be possible to quantify, the State of South Dakota has so far issued three warnings of known exposure sites in Sturgis during the event.

The first potential exposure site is One-Eyed Jack’s Saloon, where a patron who has since tested positive was present on August 11 from noon to 5:30 p.m. State officials have also announced that an employee of Asylum Tattoo has tested positive and was present at the business while able to transmit the virus on August 13 through 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.

An individual who has tested possible visited three businesses on August 15: the Knuckle Saloon from 5 to 6 p.m., Broken Spoke Saloon from 6 to 7 p.m. and One Eyed Jack’s Saloon from 7:15 to 11:30 p.m.

If you were present at any of these places at the specified times, please monitor for symptoms for 14 days after the visit.