40 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Wyoming, Campbell County woman latest victim

A Campbell County woman has become the 25th Wyoming resident to die from coronavirus, the Wyoming Department of Health reported Tuesday.

The department said the older woman did not have any of the underlying health conditions known to put patients at a higher risk for coronavirus complications and had not been hospitalized.

The department announced the death on the same day it said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases seen in Wyoming since the virus was first detected in the state in mid-March grew by 40.

However, the number of people to recover from both confirmed and probable cases of the virus during the same time increased by 42.

The department, in its daily coronavirus update, said 13 counties reported new cases: Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Fremont, Laramie, Lincoln, Natrona, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton and Uinta.

Sweetwater County saw the biggest increase at 13.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Fremont County continued to have the largest number of laboratory-confirmed cases seen since the pandemic began, 378. Laramie County had 264; Teton County had 190; Uinta County had 182; Sweetwater County had 181; Natrona County had 154; Park had 80; Campbell had 78; Albany had 66; Lincoln had 48; Washakie had 39; Sheridan had 31; Big Horn had 28; Carbon had 25; Converse had 19; Johnson had 18; Sublette had 12; Hot Springs had 11; Crook and Goshen had nine; Weston had four; Platte had three, and Niobrara had one.

The number of probable cases grew by 11 on Tuesday to total 408. A probable case is defined as one where the patient has symptoms of coronavirus and has been in contact with a person with a confirmed case but has not been tested for the illness.

The department also said 1,694 people have recovered from the illness since mid-March, an increase of 42 from Monday. The number includes 1,371 recoveries among people with confirmed cases and 323 among those with probable cases.

Recovery is defined as when a patient has gone three days without a fever and has seen improvement in respiratory problems.

The numbers showed that the total of active cases in Wyoming grew by nine on Tuesday to total 521, with 436 cases involving patients with confirmed cases and 85 involving those with probable cases.

Laramie County had the highest number of active cases at 101, followed by Fremont County with 95. Niobrara and Platte counties continued to have no active cases.

Active cases are determined by adding the total confirmed and probable coronavirus cases diagnosed since the illness first surfaced in Wyoming on March 12, subtracting the number of recoveries during the same period among patients with both confirmed and probable cases and taking into account the number of deaths attributed to the illness.

Although 25 Wyoming residents have died as a result of the virus, two of those patients were living in Colorado at the time they were diagnosed with the illness and they were not counted as confirmed cases in Wyoming.