Active cases fall below 500 as recoveries continue to climb

The number of active coronavirus cases in Wyoming fell below 500 on Wednesday as the number of patients to recover from the illness since it was first discovered in the state in March was more than double the number of new cases.

Figures from the Wyoming Department of Health’s daily coronavirus update showed that the state had 482 active cases, a decline of 23 from Tuesday.

The drop was due to an increase of 36 in the number of people to recover from the illness, while only 16 new laboratory-confirmed cases were reported in nine counties.

Fremont County had the highest number of cases at 81; Laramie County had 76; Carbon County had 69; Park County had 40; Washakie had 29; Uinta had 28; Teton had 27; Albany had 26; Campbell had 20; Goshen had 19; Sweetwater had 18; Natrona and Sheridan had 17; Lincoln had six; Hot Springs had four; Johnson had two, and Big Horn, Converse and Sublette had one. Crook, Niobrara, Platte and Weston had no active cases.

Active cases went down in 13 counties: Albany, Big Horn, Converse, Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Lincoln, Natrona, Park, Sublette, Sweetwater, Uinta and Washakie.

Laboratory-confirmed cases made up 409 of the active cases, while those with probable cases made up 73 of the 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.

The number of people to recover from coronavirus since March totaled 2,577 on Wednesday, including 2,164 people with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus and 413 with probable cases.

A probable case is defined as one where the patient has coronavirus symptoms and has been in contact with someone with a confirmed case, but has not been tested for the disease.

The number of new confirmed cases went up by 16 on Wednesday to total 2,600, with increases reported in Campbell, Carbon, Fremont, Laramie, Sheridan, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton and Washakie counties.