CASPER, Wyo. — While the Wyoming Department of Health reported a record 1,131 new lab confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the updated case numbers provided on Veteran’s Day were very low compared to recent weeks.
The WDH provided the updated data on Wednesday in the morning due to the holiday whereas the updates are generally provided at 3 pm on weekdays.
Only 76 new lab confirmed cases in the state were reported Wednesday. Natrona County alone saw over three times that number reported on Tuesday.
The additional 76 confirmed cases brings the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 16,518. The WDH also reported an additional 56 probable cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 2,856.
A total of 6,885 cases remain active in Wyoming, according to the WDH.
The low number of cases reported Wednesday significantly dropped the state’s average daily case numbers. On Tuesday, the WDH reported that Wyoming had been adding an average of 427,7 new confirmed cases each day for the last seven days, a figure boosted by the record numbers reported Tuesday.
The 76 confirmed cases reported Wednesday dropped the seven day average to 307.2 cases per day over the past seven days.
The WDH 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.
The WDH had not provided hospital data updates as of 3 pm Wednesday. A record 178 COVID-19 patients were reportedly 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.
With the exception of the Veterans Day updates, 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 in addition to Tuesday’s record numbers.
The WDH reported 249 new lab confirmed cases in Natrona County on Wednesday but only four on Wednesday. The total stands at 2,170 since the start of the pandemic. Natrona saw 15 new probable cases reported Wednesday, bringing the total to 502.
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 Wednesday is as follows:
- last 7 days: 307.2
- last 14 days: 375.8
- last 21 days: 359.1
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 Wednesday morning, Wyoming’s effective reproduction rate of the virus stood at 1.17, 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.
111 new recoveries from lab confirmed cases and 25 new probable case recoveries were reported Wenesday. A total of 9,633 people with a lab confirmed case and 1,601 with a probable case have recovered in Wyoming.
995 people with a lab confirmed cases and 221 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 2,001 (181)
- Big Horn 280 (36)
- Campbell 1,601 (127)
- Carbon 367 (38)
- Converse 273 (151)
- Crook 175 (16)
- Fremont 1,817 (256)
- Goshen 273 (33)
- Hot Springs 59 (9)
- Johnson 110 (58)
- Laramie 2,172 (583)
- Lincoln 370 (79)
- Natrona 2,170 (502)
- Niobrara 9 (33)
- Park 902 (99)
- Platte 145 (81)
- Sheridan 878 (221)
- Sublette 165 (61)
- Sweetwater 819 (50)
- Teton 992 (33)
- Uinta 494 (133)
- Washakie 180 (19)
- Weston 266 (57)
