Secretary of State Ed Buchanan speaks during a 2020 press conference. (Michael Pearlman/Office of Gov. Mark Gordon)

As of 10 a.m., May 18, 2020 

  1. Wyoming: Confirmed cases of COVID-19: 566. Deaths: 8. Recovered: 498. Probable, untested cases: 188. 
  2. By county: Fremont County leads the state with 202 confirmed cases, followed by Laramie with 119, Teton with 69, Natrona with 43 and Campbell and Sweetwater with 16. Two counties, Platte and Weston, have reported no cases. 
  3. Testing: 16,897 tests have been administered and processed, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. 
  4. United States: 1,487,447 confirmed cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute. Total deaths: 89,567 — Total recoveries: 272,265.
  5. The latest: An eighth Wyoming resident has died due to COVID-19. The Wyoming Department of Health identified the patient as an older Fremont County woman who was hospitalized and who had health conditions that put her at higher risk of the virus’s effects. The Northern Arapaho Tribe confirmed Saturday the woman was a tribal member. Five of the eight state residents who have died due to the virus, 63%, have been tribal members from the Wind River Indian Reservation. According to the latest census data, Native Americans comprise 2.7% of Wyoming’s population. The Wind River Inter-tribal Council in early May extended the stay-at-home order first enacted in April, even as the rest of the state began easing restrictions. “The [Northern Arapaho Business Council] is committed to its continued actions to help fight against this pandemic,” the tribe said in a Saturday Facebook post. “It is imperative we work together to protect ourselves and others.” The NABC also announced Saturday it has secured $19 million from the CARES Act to respond to the pandemic, County10 reports. 
  6. More news: Several cases have been confirmed among residents and staff at a long-term care facility in Washakie County, according to the DOH. Five staff members and four residents at the Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center have tested positive so far, the health department reports. More results are pending. Protecting older residents of long-term facilities is the department’s top priority through the pandemic, State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist said in a press release. Current nursing home guidelines strictly limit visitors or non-essential healthcare personnel. “We believe this policy has been helpful in Wyoming over the last couple of months, but the risk of potential exposure through staff and patients still exists,” Harrist said.

Support independent reporting during trying times — donate to WyoFile today.

Leave a comment

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *