PPE visors made with a 3D printer await delivery to Dubois. Nate Shoutis, the Lander Valley High School’s media library specialist, is one of many across the state who have answered a call to make personal protective gear using 3D printers, sewing machines and other gear. Using the high school’s printer, Shoutis made roughly 45 visors this week as well as masks, which he donated to an effort by Maker Space 307 in Riverton. (Nate Shoutis)

Beginning April 8, WyoFile will publish its COVID-19 daily briefing at 3:30 p.m. to align with a new Wyoming Department of Health updating schedule. 

As of 3 p.m., April 8, 2020 

  1. Wyoming: Confirmed cases of COVID-19: 230. Recovered: 94.
  2. By county: Laramie County leads the state with 53 confirmed cases, followed by Teton with 45, Fremont with 38, Natrona with 27 and Sheridan with 12. Five counties have reported no cases. 
  3. Testing: 4,150 tests had been administered and processed, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Experts and officials agree testing numbers fall short of the reality of the disease’s spread.
  4. United States: 419,975 confirmed cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute. Total deaths: 14,262  — Total recoveries: 22,966.
  5. The latest: According to the University of Washington’s projections updated Wednesday, Wyoming will see its peak resource use on April 29, will not have a shortage of hospital or ICU beds, will need 26 ventilators and will see a peak death rate of three people a day on April 25. Total projected deaths has been lowered to 67 through Aug. 4, according to the university’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Gov. Mark Gordon and state officials said they are working to help make that model more accurate. While they have expressed wariness of projections, they said they expect a peak to come in early May. The Wyoming Department of Health added a new metric Wednesday and reports 73 “probable” cases across the state in addition to the test-confirmed count.
  6. More news: Carbon County commissioners expressed concern over the number of contract workers traveling to the county to work on major energy projects, according to the Rawlins Times. Teton County’s health officer on April 7 issued a recommendation that individuals should wear cloth face coverings while in public. In Fremont County, where healthcare professionals reported they referred 60-70 patients with COVID-19-like symptoms to self isolate on April 7 alone, County Health Officer Dr. Brian Gee doubled down on the message for residents to wear masks in public. “The hope is now that if we get people wearing masks we can hopefully slow the transmission in our community,” Gee said.

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