CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Health reported a record 1,131 new laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 during their daily update at 3 pm Tuesday, Nov. 10.
That is is the highest number of confirmed cases reported in a single day since the start of the pandemic. Wyoming has now seen a total of 16,442 lab confirmed cases since the pandemic began. 101 new probable cases reported Tuesday brought the state total to 2,800.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Wyoming’s population at 578,759 in 2019. Using that figure, around 2.84% of Wyoming’s population has had a confirmed case of the virus. If probable cases are figured in, then over 3.3% of the state’s population has contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
The state has been adding an average of 427.7 new confirmed cases each day for the last seven days. About 27% of the state’s population would have contracted the virus in the span of a year if Wyoming were to add that number of cases each day for 365 days.
The WDH also reported 13 additional COVID-19 related deaths on Tuesday. 127 Wyoming residents who had COVID-19 have died during the pandemic. 38 of those deaths have been reported since Oct. 29.
New COVID-19 cases have been piling up in recent weeks as the virus surges in Wyoming. 917 new laboratory confirmed cases were reported on Friday, Nov. 6. Over 600 confirmed cases were also reported on two days since Friday.
The WDH also report a record 178 COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the state on Tuesday. COVID hospitalizations sharply increased throughout the month of October and into November. There were 27 COVID patients in Wyoming hospitals as of Oct. 1, according to the WDH. Wyoming saw more than 100 patients hospitalized due to COVID for the first time on Oct. 25.
The WDH reported 249 new lab confirmed cases in Natrona County on Tuesday, bringing the total to 2,166. Natrona saw 23 new probable cases, bringing the total to 487.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Natrona County’s population at 79,858 in 2019. If Natrona were to see 249 new confirmed cases every day, it would take about 323 days for every person in the county to contract COVID-19.
Health officials in Natrona County addressed the surging COVID-19 situation in a series of videos released on Thursday. WMC interim CEO Dr. James Bleicher said the hospital is “doing everything we can to handle this extra load of patients”:
Casper-Natrona County Health Department Executive Director Anna Kinder said that cases are spread throughout the community. She added that long-term care facilities are dealing with cases and some residents of these facilities are at risk of dying:
Natrona County Health Officer Dr. Ghazi Ghanem highlighted the need for the community to take action to slow the spread of the virus:
WMC Chief of Staff Dr. Andy Dunn talked about what it is like working as a health care provider trying to treat COVID-19 in the community:
The average number of new lab confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in Wyoming as of Tuesday is as follows:
- last 7 days: 427.7
- last 14 days: 410.8
- last 21 days: 372.6
Wyoming’s COVID cases began to surge in mid-September. Today’s average daily cases counts can compare with data from Sept. 15 as follows:
- 7 day average: 50.3
- 14 day average: 40.6
- 21 day average: 35.2
As of Tuesday morning, Wyoming’s effective reproduction rate of the virus stood at 1.12, according to Rt.live. The number reflects the average number of new cases each case is expected to create. Anytime the effective reproduction rate is above 1.0, COVID-19 is expected to spread quickly.
329 new recoveries from lab confirmed cases and 16 new probable case recoveries were reported Tuesday. A total of 9,522 people with a lab confirmed case and 1,576 with a probable case have recovered in Wyoming.
978 people with a lab confirmed cases and 212 people with a probable case have recovered in Natrona County.
County-specific COVID-19 information is available from the Wyoming Department of Health. Total lab confirmed cases in each county (with probable cases in parentheses) are as follows:
- Albany 1,996 (179)
- Big Horn 284 (35)
- Campbell 1,599 (128)
- Carbon 365 (38)
- Converse 268 (151)
- Crook 164 (16)
- Fremont 1,811 (249)
- Goshen 273 (33)
- Hot Springs 58 (9)
- Johnson 110 (55)
- Laramie 2,168 (576)
- Lincoln 365 (78)
- Natrona 2,166 (487)
- Niobrara 9 (32)
- Park 901 (97)
- Platte 145 (75)
- Sheridan 878 (216)
- Sublette 165 (57)
- Sweetwater 801 (51)
- Teton 989 (33)
- Uinta 484 (130)
- Washakie 178 (19)
- Weston 265 (56)
