By The Wyoming News Exchange

The number of people confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus since it was first detected in Wyoming in mid-March grew to 721 on Friday.

The Wyoming Department of Health, in its daily coronavirus update, said new cases were detected in Albany, Fremont, Natrona and Uinta counties. Uinta County had six new cases.

However, an increase of 20 in recoveries seen in both patients with confirmed cases and those with probable cases since the pandemic began pushed the number of active cases down to 163 on Friday.

As of Friday, the Health Department said it had confirmed 257 cases in Fremont County; 122 in Laramie; 69 in Teton; 68 in Natrona; 34 in Washakie; 24 in Albany and Sweetwater; 19 in Campbell; 16 in Uinta; 14 in Converse and Johnson; 12 in Sheridan; 11 in Lincoln; nine in Carbon; eight in Hot Springs; five in Big Horn and Crook; four in Goshen, and two in Park. Niobrara, Platte, Sublette and Weston counties all had one case each.

The number of patients to have recovered since the illness was first detected in Wyoming grew by 20 to total 755 on Friday. The number included 575 recoveries among those with confirmed cases of coronavirus and 180 among those with probable cases.

A probable case is one where a patient has coronavirus symptoms and has been in contact with a person with a known coronavirus infection but has not been tested for the illness. The Health Department said there were 212 probable cases in the state as of Friday afternoon.

The growth in recoveries meant the number of active cases fell by eight on Friday to total 163, including 131 people with laboratory-confirmed cases and 32 with probable cases.