CASPER, Wyo. — The upward trend in the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Wyoming continues to climb.
The Wyoming Department of Health reported a record 235 COVID-19 patients in Wyoming hospitals on Sunday, Nov. 22. There were 232 COVID patients hospitalized on Monday.
Wyoming started to see a surge in COVID-19 cases around the middle of September. The number of COVID-19 related deaths reported among Wyoming residents has been trending upward since that time.
Since Sept. 13, the WDH have reported 126 COVID-19 related deaths among the state’s residents. That equals about 72% of the overall 176 COVID-19 related deaths reported in Wyoming since the start of the pandemic.
Wyoming has seen a total of 24,309 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. 20,630 of those cases have been reported since Sept. 13, amounting to about 85% of all cases.
There were 13 COVID-19 patients reported in Wyoming hospitals on Sept. 13. Monday’s 232 COVID patients is a 168% increase in the number of hospitalizations since Sept. 13.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon announced last week a three-pronged approach to help support hospitals which are seeing staffing resources strained as the surge in hospitalizations continues.
“Right now several hospitals are also at capacity for ICU beds,” the governor’s office said in Thursday’s press release.
The Wyoming Medical Center had 69 COVID patients on Monday, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Only one of the WMC’s intensive care unit beds reportedly unoccupied by COVID or other patients.
At least three hospitals in the state had all of their ICU beds full, according to the WDH.
Gordon’s office said in Thursday’s announcement that Health and Medical Task Force (HMTF) teams would be deployed to the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and the Campbell County Memorial Hospital in Gillette. These teams are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Disaster Medical System.
“Each 15-member team includes physicians and nurses who will support hospitals in Campbell and Laramie counties for 14 days,” the release states. “The communities were selected based on where the immediate need was greatest.”
The Wyoming National Guard will also be providing support to hospitals in the state “by augmenting hospital staff.”
“Guard members will be assisting with activities such as delivering meals and other activities to free up medical staff,” the release states. “There will be 10 guard members assigned to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Cheyenne who will be deployed for 30 days unless extended upon request. Assistance with non-medical tasks helps the hospitals focus their medical resources on tasks where they can have the most impact.”
The governor has also allocated $10 million in CARES Act funding to the Wyoming Hospital Association. This funding is to help pay for traveling medical staff.
“As many as 50 additional personnel are expected to be deployed throughout the state by the end of the week to provide staffing relief and ease the burden on hospital resources,” the release said.
While the surge is putting a strain on ICU capacity and the number of healthcare workers available at some hospitals, the WDH reported 20 of an available 220 ventilators available in Wyoming were in use on Monday.
Hospitals in Wyoming had conducted 56,917 COVID-19 tests as of Nov. 19. The rate at which these tests have come back positive has been on the rise. As of Sept. 13, the WDH reported a positivity rate among tests conducted at hospitals of 2.88%. That had increased to 8.39% as of Nov. 19.
Since hospitals self-report data to the WDH, State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist has said that the WDH data about hospital resources and COVID-19 hospitalizations is best used to track trends in overall COVID hospitalizations or resource availability.
Harrist has said that the data should be considered an approximation of the exact numbers since hospitals self-report the data and the actual statewide numbers could vary slightly.
The Wyoming Department of Health provide data about the number of COVID patients in specific hospitals in the state, but caution that the data is self-reported by hospitals and that “non-general acute hospitals (e.g., rehabilitation hospitals) may report COVID-19 hospitalizations but these data do not always reflect statewide capacity issues.”
Further data from the WDH is available below:
