As of 10 a.m., April 23, 2020
- Wyoming: Confirmed cases of COVID-19: 326. Deaths: 7 — Recovered: 275. Probable, untested cases: 121.
- By county: Laramie County leads the state with 78 confirmed cases, followed by Teton with 63, Fremont with 51, Natrona with 38 and Campbell with 14. Two counties, Platte and Weston, have reported no cases.
- Testing: 7,511 tests have been administered and processed, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Experts and officials agree positive test numbers fall well short of the reality of the disease’s spread.
- United States: 842,624 confirmed cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute. Total deaths: 46,785 — Total recoveries: 76,682.
- The latest: The Wyoming Department of Health reported that a COVID-19-positive Teton County man has died. The older patient was hospitalized in another state and suffered from high-risk conditions. No new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have surfaced since a staff member at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk, the state’s women’s prison, tested positive, a prison spokesperson said Tuesday. The agency announced on April 10 that a staff member had tested positive for the disease. Rural hospitals are facing financial ruin if they can’t restart elective procedures soon, the Jackson Hole News&Guide reports, quoting St. John’s Health CEO Dr. Paul Beaupre. “By not doing elective procedures, at St. John’s we are currently losing about $6 million per month,” he said. “If nothing changes within the next eight to nine months, St. John’s will be fiscally insolvent.”
- More news: In the wake of four COVID-related deaths in one day this week, Fremont County officials said they are learning more about the nature and severity of the virus. “What is learned is this is a difficult illness, and it keeps people quite ill for long periods of time,” Fremont County Health Officer Dr. Brian Gee said in a Wednesday press conference. “A couple of these patients had been cared for at an intensive-level care for three, four, five weeks. And unfortunately, even when people are improving as one had, there are still complications that can happen in that third and fourth week of illness.” Gee also said the virus “infected some of those who died yesterday even before we knew we had a case in the county.” Despite around-the-clock work being done by community leaders and many thoughtful decisions, Gee said, “illness and death have occurred.” He urged care in moving forward. “I believe this should be a slow and narrow opening if any to start with,” Gee said. “We really need increased compliance with mask use.”