County COVID cases fall, but hospitalizations and deaths rise

Posted 10/21/21

Although the overall number of people infected with COVID-19 is dropping in Park County, local hospitals are currently treating more patients for the disease than at any other point in the pandemic. …

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County COVID cases fall, but hospitalizations and deaths rise

Posted

Although the overall number of people infected with COVID-19 is dropping in Park County, local hospitals are currently treating more patients for the disease than at any other point in the pandemic. Additionally, the Wyoming Department of Health has announced eight more COVID-related deaths among county residents, all from earlier this month.

There have now been 68 deaths among the nearly 4,900 confirmed and probable cases that have been recorded in Park County since March 2020. Seven of those who recently died were over the age of 64, and six had underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk of serious illness, the Department of Health said this week.

As of Monday — the most recent day for which data was available at press time — there were 22 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Park County. That included 14 patients at Cody Regional Health and eight at Powell Valley Hospital.

The county hit a new pandemic high of 24 patients on Sunday; up until the weekend, the county’s two hospitals had never held more than 20 COVID patients at once.

Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin noted that the figures don’t include the sickest people, who are transferred to larger hospitals in other states.

“It is not possible to track all patients hospitalized out of the county, because some people go on their own to be seen in other ERs and end up getting hospitalized,” Billin said in a Facebook comment. “We generally capture these hospitalizations only if they die and when their death certificate is processed.”

Billin has said there’s been a recurring trend in which a rise in active cases is followed by a rise in hospitalizations and then deaths.

In a positive development that could signal a shift, the number of active confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in the county has continued to drop over the past few weeks. As of Wednesday, there were 173 active infections, according to Department of Health data, down from 191 the prior week.

Public health officials continue to encourage residents to take common sense precautions to prevent the spread of disease — such as washing hands frequently and staying home when sick — to wear masks in indoor settings when appropriate and to receive a vaccination against COVID-19.

As of Wednesday, 11,487 Park County residents were fully vaccinated, according to state data, representing about 39.3% of the overall population. That’s about 150 people more than were fully inoculated a week earlier, a roughly 0.5% increase. The percentage is in-line with the state average, but significantly below the national average.

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