Despite social media claims, there are still no confirmed COVID-19 cases in Uinta Co.

Sheila McGuire, Herald Reporter
Posted 3/30/20

COVID-19 update for Tuesday, March 31, 2020

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Despite social media claims, there are still no confirmed COVID-19 cases in Uinta Co.

Posted

EVANSTON — Social media exploded on Sunday, March 29, when someone shared a video taken at the Evanston Flying J purported to show emergency crews wearing protective gear responding to Uinta County’s first case of COVID-19 in a truck driver. The video was first posted to a truck driver’s wall of shame site and then shared widely.

However, Uinta County Fire and Ambulance and Uinta County Public Health quickly issued statements countering the misinformation contained in posts sharing the video. Emergency crews are reportedly donning protective gear for every call at this point in time in an effort to keep first responders safe. Uinta County Public Health said a truck driver was taken to Evanston Regional Hospital for a health issue and “the decision to test the individual was made based on an overabundance of caution to protect the individual, the community and those down the road.” That individual was reportedly quarantined while awaiting test results.

The statement from Public Health noted that ERH has prepared for and continues to develop plans to care for not only Uinta County residents but for anyone passing through the community. “Due to Evanston’s location on I-80, we expect that truck drivers, who are essential workers, will have to utilize our healthcare facilities and testing capabilities as they pass through. The potential exists that we will encounter sick individuals in this way. Use of the ER by truck drivers is rather common in normal times, and we expect a possible increase during this time of heightened awareness and caution.”

The statement indicated the County Incident Management Team has plans in place to provide for quarantine/self-isolation of individuals who are not county residents who may experience symptoms or are awaiting test results. The statement also pointed out the vital role trucking is playing during the COVID-19 crisis.

“Maintaining supplies of basic staples in our stores is extremely important and getting supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) out to hospitals and doctors’ offices is even more so. Therefore, we rely on our country’s truck drivers in a big way. Our community is working to do our best to help not only us, but them, get safe, high-quality and respectful care.”

While the statewide total of confirmed cases stood at 94 in 15 counties on the morning of Monday, March 30, Uinta County still does not have a confirmed case. The Wyoming Department of Health reported that 1,389 tests have been conducted at the Wyoming State Lab, and 24 of the 94 confirmed cases have recovered from the illness.

The Uinta County Incident Management Team is comprised of the county commissioners, county health officer and many other community leaders and stakeholders who have been meeting to ensure community preparedness for the likelihood of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Uinta County. An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been put in place to coordinate the community response, with County Health Officer Dr. Mike Adams and County Public Health Nurse Manager Kim Proffit serving as incident commanders.

The objectives of the management team include monitoring the situation and participating in national and state-level discussions, disseminating accurate information throughout the community and supporting healthcare providers. The team will continue to meet twice weekly to stay on top of a rapidly-changing situation and to help manage impacts and consequences of the virus and attempt to slow its spread.

Efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus were behind Governor Mark Gordon’s order issued on Friday, March 27, which extended the three state health orders on public facility closures through April 17. The extension means that the orders pertaining to closures of schools, dine-in restaurants, bars, taverns, recreation centers, gyms, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, massage businesses and more as well as the prohibition of any public gathering of more than 10 people will remain in effect through at least April 17.

Gordon announced on Sunday, March 29, that he has elected, for now, to not issue a statewide “shelter in place” order, but instead asked Wyoming citizens to “be smart, stay home and stay vigilant.” Gordon emphasized, “I have not put these orders in place casually. I have considered each order carefully, weighing their health benefits carefully and their economic impacts fully. All have been absolutely necessary, recommended by Wyoming’s state epidemiologist Dr. Alexia Harrist, and supported by Wyoming’s medical community. Every order has been designed to slow the spread — flatten the curve — of this exceptionally contagious virus. I have acted to save lives — your lives.”

Gordon’s statement continued by noting the surge of infections that has resulted in crisis situations in other states and said, “Nothing suggests Wyoming can avoid that same circumstance except perhaps our faith in Wyoming people. I believe Wyoming people don’t need to wait for an order to know the right thing to do. It is up to each of you to stem the tide of this terrible pandemic. . . You already know how important it is to take responsibility for your actions. Do the right thing, do it the right way and do it right away!”

With the extended closure orders, Evanston schools are now in the process of developing plans for distance learning for all students. Those plans will be presented to the Uinta County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees during a session on Tuesday, March 31, for approval, after which students and families can expect to be receiving information on how exactly individual teachers and classes will be presenting classwork to students. The March 31 board meeting will be live streamed, and the public is encouraged to view the meeting remotely to maintain social distancing practices.

To ensure all students are able to participate in online learning, local internet providers, including All West Communications, are waiving installation fees and providing up to two months of broadband services to students who do not currently have service.

In recognition of the significant impact closures are having on Wyoming families, Wyoming First Lady Jennie Gordon and the Wyoming Hunger Initiative have developed a task force to make sure Wyomingites have access to food throughout the current pandemic. The First Lady will be visiting Wyoming communities throughout the state with a Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies mobile food pantry and will be visiting Evanston from 1-3 p.m. on Friday, April 3, at the Machine Shop. The food pantry is just one resource in addition to the Lord’s Storehouse Food Pantry and the meals provided to youth at multiple schools and bus locations through UCSD No. 1 and ECDC. (Editor’s note: For more information on youth meal locations, see the Community Calendar on page B3 in this edition of the Herald.)

Wyoming businesses, as is the case with businesses everywhere, are also feeling the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in recognition of that Gov. Gordon has announced the availability of the Wyoming Layoff Aversion Grant program to help businesses keep employees working. More information can be found at http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/businesses/covid19-layoff-aversion/.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has developed a resource to help small business owners navigate the process of applying for small business loans and assistance, which can be found at uschamber.com/sbloans.

The Wyoming Community Foundation has also announced a fund to help Wyoming nonprofit organizations, including food banks, shelters, mental health organizations, child care organizations and more.

As of March 30, the U.S. leads the world with nearly 160,000 confirmed cases out of approximately 775,000 global cases. Of those global cases, more than 26,000 are listed as serious, approximately 37,000 are listed as fatalities and nearly 165,000 are listed as recovered.