CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) reported 311 new lab confirmed cases of COVID-19 during their Sunday morning update Dec. 6.
There have now been 31,561 total confirmed coronavirus cases in Wyoming since the start of the pandemic. More than 84% of those have been reported since October 1, when there had been 5,170 total confirmed cases.
65 additional probable cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the total to 4,756.
There have been 257 COVID-19 related deaths among Wyoming residents since the start of the pandemic, including 27 reported last Thursday.
As of Friday, 222 patients were hospitalized statewide with COVID-19.
The WDH reported 21 new lab confirmed cases in Natrona County on Sunday. The total stands at 4,411 since the start of the pandemic. An additional 19 probable cases in the county were reported Sunday, with the total now 1,026.
115 new recoveries from lab confirmed cases were reported statewide on Sunday, bringing the total to 25,896. An additional eight probable case recoveries were also reported for a total of 3,760.
In Natrona County, 3,405 people with a lab confirmed case and 660 people with a probable case have recovered, with one recovery from a confirmed case reported since Saturday.
The latest data from WDH shows that the average number of new cases daily (over a 14-day) span, has declined from a peak of 662.3 in late November to 478.
As of Thursday morning, Wyoming’s effective reproduction rate of the virus stood at 1.03, 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.
“A lab confirmed or probable case is defined as recovered when there is resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and there is improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath) for 24 hours AND at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared,” the WDH says. “Cases with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who have not had any symptoms are considered recovered when at least 10 days have passed since the date of their first positive test and have had no subsequent illness provided they remain asymptomatic.”
WDH Public Information Officer Kim Deti explained that the department marks people as recovered once their isolation order date has expired. People who test positive are asked to remain in isolation until 10 days since their first symptoms or 10 days after their test was taken, or longer if they are still showing symptoms.
If people need to be isolated longer than their initial isolation period, they can contact the WDH who can extend their isolation order. Deti said that in some cases, contact tracing informs whether a case is considered recovered while in others, the department counts someone as covered after their isolation period concludes.
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: 2,969 (250)
- Big Horn: 500 (57)
- Campbell: 2,978 (284)
- Carbon: 714 (58)
- Converse: 423 (246)
- Crook: 303 (24)
- Fremont: 3,136 (413)
- Goshen: 757 (68)
- Hot Springs: 153 (16)
- Johnson: 258 (116)
- Laramie: 4,942 (821)
- Lincoln: 617 (83)
- Natrona: 4,411 (1,045)
- Niobrara: 53 (74)
- Park: 1,352 (120)
- Platte: 234 (124)
- Sheridan: 1,823 (338)
- Sublette: 393 (103)
- Sweetwater: 2,029 (83)
- Teton: 1,735 (50)
- Uinta: 987 (211)
- Washakie: 447 (99)
- Weston: 347 (73)
