State tightens health orders

State health orders tightened up again this week in response to the worsening pandemic – but only when it comes to the size of gatherings.

In a press release, Governor Mark Gordon described the new orders as, “part of a series of measures the state and counties are undertaking to respond to the new record levels of COVID-19 hospitalizations and surge in cases.”

New Orders

The new orders leave most restrictions largely unchanged and will not require business or school closures. However, the size allowed for both indoor and outdoor gatherings has been reduced.

From now until the orders expire on December 15, gatherings of 25 people or fewer are not subject to restrictions, no matter the venue. With physical distancing measures employed, indoor events may be held at up to 25% of a venue’s capacity, with a maximum of 100 people.

Outdoor events are meanwhile limited to 50% of a venue’s capacity, up to a maximum of 250 people.

Faith-based gatherings are exempt, as are funeral homes, parades and other specified businesses. There are no changes to how schools, child care facilities, restaurants and performance spaces are operated, while group workout classes at gyms will be limited to 25 participants.

“These measures are intended to assist our healthcare system in meeting unprecedented demands for services, assure that in-classroom education can continue, and importantly keep Wyoming’s people working and her businesses open,” Governor Gordon said in the press release.

“We have reached out extensively to our business community across the state and will continue to do so. We heard a clear message from them that they want to work cooperatively to ensure our economy, workforce and general public are healthy.”

While the new orders remain in effect until December 15, Gordon indicated that they could be revised earlier if necessary.

“We have said from the start that data would drive our approach,” the Governor said. “With this spike, we must respond to these new conditions. We have seen that larger gatherings are playing a role in the spread of this disease.”

Local Spread

The pandemic has continued to maintain its hold on Crook County over the past week, with new cases reported every day. A total of 50 new confirmed cases have brought the total cases in the county throughout the pandemic to 270, while probable cases have risen by two to 21.

The largest increase during the week took place on Thursday, when Crook County reported 16 new cases.

As hospitalizations continue to rise across Wyoming, Crook County Memorial Hospital has had two COVID-19 inpatients since November 16. The hospital has no intensive care unit beds and only one available ventilator unit, which at the present time is not in use.

Records Broken

Another record-breaking week for Wyoming saw hospitalizations reach a new all-time high of 235 on November 21. The week also saw the highest number of cases in a single day once again increase when a total of 1251 new infections were reported on Monday.

On a couple of days over the week, Wyoming saw a surge in the number of recoveries that were reported. This brought the number of active cases down for the first time since early October.

However, active cases were on the rise again by Sunday and, after Monday’s record-breaking number of new cases, had climbed to 11,793.

Deaths attributed to COVID-19 also rose sharply over the week. The state reported 21 additional deaths on November 19 and an additional 22 on November 23.