First COVID case reported in Glenrock School District

By Mary Stewart

mary@glenrockind.com

Converse County continues to be one of Wyoming’s coronavirus hot spot locations as the number of positive cases jumped from 110 positive individuals Sept. 29, to 135 lab-confirmed positive cases late Monday afternoon, Oct. 7.

While most of the positive cases have been in Douglas, a student at Glenrock Jr./Sr. High School has tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 5, according to Converse County Public Health and the Glenrock School District, making this the first case of the virus in CCSD#2.

“We were notified of the positive case at the school Oct. 5 and followed our protocol for notifying our stakeholders, and have been cooperating with Converse County Public Health to make sure they have all the needed information to complete their contact tracing,” Glenrock School District Superintendent Coley Shadrick said.

“We feel very fortunate to have made it seven weeks without a positive (case), so we will continue to be diligent with our procedures and hope to mitigate the impact of this one case,” he said.

Numbers of positive COVID-19 cases and the number of Wyoming residents hospitalized because of the virus continues to climb, Gov. Mark Gordon said in a press conference Oct. 5.

“We are trending in the wrong direction,” Gordon stated.

Numbers of lab confirmed positive cases continue to surge in the Cowboy State and resources for contact tracing are dwindling, which has caused the governor to call in the National Guard to help with contact tracing duties for the next 30 days.

“In the past 14 days, the state has averaged 98 positive cases per day,” Gordon said. “We have four counties with more than 100 active cases, including 36 patients who are currently hospitalized in 19 hospitals around the state.”

As of Monday afternoon, Converse County had 46 active cases and four residents hospitalized, according to Converse County Emergency Management Agency officials.

The ages of the positive cases range from teenagers to seniors in their 80s, according to CCEMA.

It’s widely believed elderly individuals are the most susceptible to contracting the coronavirus, but that’s not the case in Converse County as CCEMA reports positive cases in residents who are in their  20s, 30s and 40s.

Gov. Gordon has no plans on limiting or halting social gatherings as long as people comply with state health recommendations, he said.

“The economy can’t recover until the virus is under control,” he said. “Through all of our actions we can reduce the spread of the virus with continued social distancing, wearing a mask and washing our hands.”

Wyoming Public Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist once again called on Wyoming residents to follow health recommendations to slow the spread of the virus.

“If orders are not followed it means the virus will continue to spread. We all hoped that things would be different than they are now,” she said.

Harrist stated the number of positive cases at the University of Wyoming, community colleges and schools can be traced back to social gatherings and individuals not following mask or social distancing guidelines.

Although positive cases continue to climb in our state, both Gordon and Harrist noted the upcoming Halloween holiday is not cancelled, although parties are not advised.

“Trick or treating can still be done but needs to be done safely and following guidelines,” Harrist said.