Governor Gordon eases restrictions on businesses

The process of easing restrictions for closures due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) began on May 1 as exceptions to two of Governor Mark Gordon's orders allowed for the reopening of businesses that have been impacted by those orders. All three orders have been extended until May 15.

Under the first order, which was originally issued on March 20, gyms are allowed to open in a limited capacity. Additionally, restaurants may allow up to five customers at a time to enter to either pick up their food or drink order while observing social distancing. Childcare centers and home daycares are also allowed to reopen or continue operating.

The third order, which had closed tattoo shops, nail salons, barber shops, massage therapy services and piercing shops now allows an exception for such businesses to open in a limited capacity. No more than nine people should be in a room or confined space at one time, customers may only be served at stations that are at least six feet apart in distance from other stations, staff must be screened at the beginning of each shift for symptoms of COVID-19. 

Both staff and customers are required to wear face coverings and any business must maintain adequate records of their customers for the purpose of contact tracing. Finally, cleaning and sanitizing must be done after each customer, including hand washing and surface cleaning.

In Saratoga, all three hair salons on Bridge Avenue were open for business on Friday. Red Sage Spa, LJ's Cuts and Wyoming Hair Company all had customers throughout the day with the stipulation that all customers had to book an appointment and no walk-ins were accepted. Another part of the exception, which stated that customers could not be in the waiting area prior to services, was observed as patrons of these businesses waited in their vehicles before their appointments.

As has been the case since the orders were issued, any business wanting an exception to the orders must submit a written application to the county health officer. If the county health officer believes that the plan is sufficient, then it will be forwarded onto the state health officer for approval. If the plan is approved by the state health officer, then counties are to document the exception by writing an exception approval letter signed by the county health officers.

The opening of some of these businesses came a day after Carbon County reported it's fifth positive case of COVID-19. While there had been four other cases documented in recent weeks, none of them were residents of the county and are not counted towards the county. The fifth case is the first to be attributed to Carbon County in several weeks with the previous four cases being listed as recovered by both Carbon County Public Health and the Wyoming Department of Health.

According to a situational debrief from Jacquelin Wells, public information officer for the Carbon County COVID-19 Incident Management Team, Carbon County Public Health is currently investigating 67 cases of COVID-like symptoms. Of those, 41 are listed as having recovered, four are hospitalized and 43 have been tested.

As of Tuesday morning, the Wyoming Department of Health was reporting 444 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state with 152 probable cases and seven deaths. The Wyoming Public Health Lab has processed 5,565 tests and commercial labs have processed 5,197. Platte County and Weston County are still the only two counties in the state that do not have a confirmed case of COVID-19. Fremont County has 128 confirmed cases and 9 possible cases, Laramie County has 104 confirmed cases and 54 possible cases, and Teton County has 67 confirmed cases and 31 possible cases.