COVID-19 cases still high in county hospital

New cases of COVID-19 continue to roll in across the area and Crook County Memorial Hospital remains in lockdown this week as the medical staff concentrates on providing care to numerous patients with serious symptoms.

“We really appreciate the community support and just knowing that we have that is important,” says Micki Lyons, CEO of Crook County Medical Services District, asking the community for its patience and understanding as staff “continue to navigate this difficult situation.”

Crook County has recorded 31 new lab-confirmed cases over the last week and 17 new probable cases. On Monday, the Wyoming Department of Health reported that, within the last two weeks, this county has seen 97 new cases in total.

Of course, with the number of tests coming back in Wyoming with a positive result still above 9%, it’s likely that many more cases are occurring than are reaching the state’s statistics.

Across Wyoming, hospitalizations remain almost as high as during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, reaching a high of 233 patients on September 8. In Crook County, the number of hospitalizations has bounced between one and four over the last week.

“The weekend seemed to be a little more calm, but we are still seeing COVID-19 cases throughout the county,” says Lyons.

The relative instability of the inpatient numbers is due to both recoveries and cases needing to be transferred, Lyons says.

“Our local patient numbers go up and down as we are either able to get people to a point of going home safely or are getting them to a higher level of care when indicated and we are able to find an open bed,” she says.

The deaths of 21 more people in Wyoming due to the coronavirus were reported last week, bringing the overall fatality number to 879. This included three people each from Fremont, Campbell and Park counties, two each from Albany, Laramie, Sweetwater and Carbon counties and one each from Converse, Natrona, Sheridan and Uinta counties.

So far during this recent wave, no deaths have been reported in Crook County. However, says Lyons, that’s not because they haven’t taken place. 

“I would imagine with this uptick the state is quite behind in their reporting,” she says. “We have unfortunately had a few covid related deaths in our hospital during this uptick.”

As a reminder, despite the influx of patients, medical services remain available to all.

“CCMSD is offering drive-through COVID-19 testing for those that just want a test. Please contact the hospital lab to schedule,” Lyons says.

The district’s clinics remain open for appointments, both COVID-related and general.

“Please contact the clinics if you have questions about COVID-19 exposure or concerns about COVID-19 symptoms and our staff can direct you,” Lyons says.

“For information on the COVID-19 vaccine, please contact Crook County Public Health.”