Solid, sound and ready to work

“So steadfast is my faith in you, the Wyoming people, to do the right thing, that I have not issued a statewide ‘shelter in place’ order. 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!”

As the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to climb in Wyoming, Governor Mark Gordon has expressed hesitancy at ordering residents to “shelter in place” even as surrounding states have issued such an order. To the south, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado issued a statewide order on March 25 and, to the north, Governor Steve Bullock of Montana issued a similar order a day later.

At a press conference on March 25, Gordon stated his trepidation at issuing such an order as he implored Wyoming residents to only leave their homes when absolutely necessary.

“It will take some time to see the impacts of these measures and it is essential that Wyoming residents do their part to prevent us from having additional issued orders,” said Gordon. “I am doing my best to avoid the shelter-in-place order.”

Gordon’s press conference took place on the same day that his third and most recent order took effect. The order, which had been issued on March 24, closed “non-essential personal services” such as nail salons, hair salons, massage parlors, tattoo and piercing shops, and cosmetology shops. The governor stressed that all three orders had been issued with the interest of public health in mind and to prevent taxing the state’s healthcare providers.

“In Wyoming, we have many small hospitals with only a few beds. They are staffed by your neighbors and your friends. In many cases, our EMTs are volunteers that are your neighbors and workmates. Our state’s medical community is working extremely hard but, if they are sickened by this virus, these facilities will be compromised,” Gordon said. “If we see a surge of cases … we could see our healthcare providers be overwhelmed with patients. More importantly, if our first responders and our healthcare professionals are themselves infected, they take themselves off the line further complicating issues.”

To prevent the overwhelming of those facilities, Gordon again stressed the importance of residents working from home as much as possible, staying home if they are sick and only going out whenever necessary. Michael Ceballos, director of the Wyoming Department of Health, reiterated the governor’s message and stated that the three orders issued by Gordon and State Health Officer Alexia Harrist had been in hopes of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

“The reason that we’ve issued these three orders is that we potentially, and hopefully, don’t have to take more draconian measures. We need to all do our part; the social distancing that you are practicing and, most importantly, staying at home as much as possible,” said Ceballos.

Ceballos also touched on the amount of tests available to the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory, stating that due to a nationwide shortage of testing supplies, the public health laboratory had devised a limited supply of sample collection supplies for the state. As of the press conference, it was expected that 2,650 tests were to be distributed to all the counties and the two tribes in Wyoming.

“We cannot test every case and we’re following the CDC guidelines to make sure that we’re doing this appropriately. So, please remember, that these kits and tests will be a challenge. We don’t have all that we need,” Ceballos said. “To ensure that the test can be performed as quickly as possible with patients who need them, the Department of Health has set up priorities that your healthcare providers have.”

It was also stressed by Gordon that just because a case had not been confirmed in a county did not mean it wasn’t present. Since that press conference, it was reported by the Casper Star-Tribune that more than 400 Fremont County residents with symptoms associated with COVID-19 were in self-isolation and another 23 residents were in quarantine. On Sunday, the Gillette News Record reported that, while Campbell County had only one confirmed case, health officials were monitoring 131 people who were possibly infected with COVID-19.

“We know this is a difficult situation, probably the hardest any of us will face in our lifetimes. It is not going to be quickly remedied. There is a battle rhythm and there is an end. We will work towards making sure that we arrive at that end solid, sound and ready to work,” said Gordon. “It requires commitment from all of you to stay at home and be willing to sacrifice in the short-term.”

On March 27, Gordon and Harrist extended all three public health orders from April 3 to April 17. Two days later, the governor put out a statement that he would not be issuing a statewide shelter in place order.

“We can beat this virus, we can protect our people, save our healthcare system from collapse, help business to survive and rebound after this crisis is over, help our workers and reemerge a stronger Wyoming,” Gordon wrote in his statement. “Be smart, Wyoming! Stay home. Stay diligent. Defend our home.”