With several new cases of COVID-19 reported in Park County in recent days, the state’s top health official is expressing some hesitancy about relaxing the restrictions on local bars and restaurants.

However, State Health Officer Alexia Harrist has agreed to allow a relatively large crowd — up to 2,835 spectators — at the Cody Stampede Rodeo next week.

On Friday, Harrist noted several differences between the two requests, including that the rodeo poses a lower risk because it is outdoors and people will be spread out. In contrast, the point of the variance requested for Park County restaurants and bars was to get people closer together.

Under the state’s current health rules, establishments must keep their tables at least 6 feet apart, and Park County commissioners have heard from business owners who are struggling to make ends meet due to the reduced capacity. At their urging, County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin asked Harrist to allow local restaurants and bars to return to normal spacing, as long as they’re hosting 50 or fewer people. In his variance request, submitted Wednesday night, Billin also asked the state to exempt kitchen workers in the county from wearing masks — as long as they’ve been screened for COVID-19.

However, Harrist said Friday afternoon that she wants to wait a few days before deciding whether to sign off on the request.

“I think it is well thought out and a reasonable next step for restaurants,” Harrist wrote to Billin in an email, which was provided to the Tribune. “However, I do have some concerns with the timing of this action, given the recent increases in cases in Park County … and ongoing investigations into those cases.”

Between mid-March and June 10, Park County had only two confirmed cases of COVID-19, but has had nine positive tests since then — seven among Cody residents and two in Powell — plus a probable case. Six of the cases, including one announced Friday afternoon and a probable case announced Monday, have been employees of an oil field company or their close contacts. However, a worker at a Cody childcare facility tested positive on Thursday, requiring the facility to temporarily close its doors.

Billin announced Monday night that all of the other staffers tested negative and that the facilty was cleared to open on Tuesday.

All nine of the local residents currently infected with COVID-19 are in quarantine at home, Park County Public Health Nurse Manager Bill Crampton said Friday.

In addition to the county’s cases, a subcontractor working a construction job in Yellowstone National Park’s Fishing Bridge area also tested positive in the last week; since that person is a Montana resident who was just working in the park, the positive test does not count toward Park County’s or Wyoming’s totals.

As part of the county’s efforts to track whether COVID-19 is spreading in the community, Billin said health officials tested 15 people at Cody businesses “that have a lot of contact with tourists,” and all of the tests came back negative for the novel coronavirus. Nine workers had been tested last week, also with negative results.

Most people infected with COVID-19 suffer mild or moderate flu-like symptoms and recover on their own; of the 214 Wyomingites who had active infections on Friday, only eight of them were hospitalized, according to state data. However, the respiratory disease can be deadly in rare cases, posing a particular danger to the elderly and those with preexisting conditions. The Wyoming Department of Health announced Friday that 16 residents of a Worland nursing home were infected in recent weeks and six of them have now died. Out of Wyoming’s 20 deaths, 18 of them (90%) had underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart disease or lung disease, and 15 were 65 or older, according to state data.

In expressing reservations about relaxing the rules for Park County’s restaurants, Harrist pointed to Uinta County — where 93 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in just over two weeks. She has said the outbreak appears to have been tied to patrons at a bar event who didn’t take social distancing measures seriously. Two Uinta County restaurants have temporarily closed as a result of the cases, as have a couple of healthcare providers, health officials have said. Harrist said the incident shows that “transmission within a restaurant/bar facility can cause large outbreaks and have significant impacts on businesses and services in the community.”

The state health officer said she would “readdress” Park County’s variance request early this week. Harrist also indicated that she expects to similarly relax the requirements on all of Wyoming’s residents on July 1, “if the data indicates that step is appropriate.”

In the meantime, she signed off on the exception requested for the Cody Stampede Rodeo. The state is currently limiting most outdoor gatherings to no more than 250 people. However, the nightly Cody Nite Rodeo has been allowed to have up to 600 people and Harrist is allowing the four-day PRCA-sanctioned Stampede to have up to 2,835 people in the stands on July 1-4. That’s less than half the full capacity of the arena, which can hold 6,300 people.

“The rodeo is outdoors, and households will be separated by six feet,” Harrist wrote of how it differs from the requested restaurant and bar variance.

Additionally, Cody rodeo organizers say they’ll screen every contestant for signs of COVID-19, clean restrooms twice a night, encourage paperless transactions, offer hand sanitizing stations, provide frequent reminders about social distancing and health guidelines and have attendees dismissed by section to limit crowding at the exit gates, among numerous other precautions.

Harrist added that, “as much as face coverings can be encouraged for all attending the event, that would be appreciated.” She wished rodeo organizers good luck and said she hopes it’s a success.

“Allowing more of our locals to attend as they are accustomed to doing is vitally important to help boost [morale] and demonstrate our economy is on its way to recovery in these challenging times,” the Cody Stampede Board wrote in its request for a larger crowd, adding, “In a time full of protesters, looters and overwhelming societal anxiety this event provides a safe and positive example and a venue to honor our country as one unified celebration anchored by our western tradition of rodeo.”

Tickets went on sale Monday. Meanwhile, the Cody Stampede Parade is set to go forward on July 3-4 (with the Kiddies Parade on July 2), as the state has exempted parades from all restrictions.