COVID is on the rise

Alexis Barkers
NLJ News Editor
 
Weston County managed to remain nearly unscathed by the novel coronavirus, but as the pandemic continues local communities have begun seeing an uptick in positive cases reported. 
As of Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 3 p.m., Weston County had a total of nine positive COVID-19 test results. Four of those positives were announced in the last three days prior.
Statewide the total number of confirmed cases reached 2,850, with 513 of those considered as probable cases, and 34 Wyoming residents have passed away after contracting the virus.
To date, 591 COVID-19 tests have been performed on county residents, meaning that 0.85% of the tests performed yielded positive results. Statewide, 3.2% of the 89,532 tests performed across the state were positive, with a total of 2,850. The total number of people tested reached 61,928.
Despite the uptick in local cases, Weston County Public Health Nurse Lori Bickford reported that there has been no evidence of community spread within Weston County. According to Bickford, one individual contracted the virus while traveling outside of the county, one was linked to a positive case, and the case announced Monday evening was not diagnosed in the county. 
“Here is an update on the positive case added to Weston County yesterday,” Bickford said on the Weston County Public Health Facebook page. “The resident has been hospitalized out of state. The family needs our support and as always a blessings of a quick recovery.”
Bickford maintained that people in the community need to continue to practice physical social distancing, washing their hands regularly and wearing a mask when necessary.