As COVID Cases Surge, Wyoming Hospitals Begin to Feel Strain

As COVID-19 cases and subsequent hospitalizations continue to surge throughout the state, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon announced on Friday that the statewide COVID dashboard has been updated to "concerning" in terms of hospitalizations.

In making the upgrade, healthcare officials took into consideration the availability of hospital beds and ICU beds.

As of Friday afternoon, 147 Wyomingites are in the hospital with COVID 19. There are currently more than 5,500 active cases.

Wyoming reported 917 new confirmed active cases on Friday — by far the largest single-day increase.

Sixteen deaths have been reported in roughly the last week.

On Thursday, Wyoming Medical Center CEO JJ Bleicher said the hospital is having to turn away patients from out-of-state. Hospital officials are also taking a hard look at whether they can accept out-of-count patients.

If the surge doesn't stabilize soon, Bleicher said, the hospital may not be able to fully serve Natrona County.

Currently, Natrona County has 25 new confirmed active cases, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Nearly 680 residents are actively infected with the virus.

Albany County has the most active infections, with 939.

The statewide death total remains at 105.