Sweetwater County has highest positivity rate in Wyoming for COVID-19

 

Tyler Johnson, [email protected]

ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING (June 7, 2021) – Sweetwater County Public Health and local medical professionals are reminding the community that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over.

 

During a meeting with elected officials on Monday, County Health Officer Dr. Jean Stachon said that Sweetwater County leads the state in active coronavirus cases with around 70.

Stachon said the county has a 9.9% positivity rate compared the 2.4% positivity rate the state boasts.

“Our county is leading the state in cases and we’re relatively low on immunization uptake, “Stachon said. “There’s a lot less masking, distancing and people are assuming it’s done and over with. I just don’t know how to get the point across that it is not done or over with.”

On Monday, she reported the first two COVID-19-related deaths the county has seen in months. She said that one was under the age of 50 and the other was over the age of 65. She said both were not vaccinated.

 

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Stachon said.

Kim White, Director of Emergency Services of Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, shared her struggle with post coronavirus pneumonia and her need to use an oxygen tank when moving around. She said COVID-19 has affected people in many different ways and the long-term effects is something that people need to be aware of.

She also said that one of the long-term effects is impacting her ability to learn.

“The other parts it effects is cognition and being able to learn. I started back school in January of 2020 for my psychiatric nurse practitioner degree. This semester proved that my brain is not quite able to do that yet. Never struggled with school in the past, but I was unable to comprehend and remember the things that I needed to,” White shared.

“I think it is important to know that there are long-term effects that come with this illness and it can very frustrating. I’m really thankful that we do have the medical technology to treat this. In my case, oxygen isn’t a big deal compared to some of the things people deal with, including up to death.

“It’s just a very interesting virus and we just don’t have enough information out, so people need to do whatever they really can to protect themselves.”

 

As of June 1, 26.29% of Sweetwater County’s population has been fully vaccinated. That includes either both doses of the Pfizer/Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That’s approximately 11, 158 individuals.

In the state of Wyoming, as of May 28, 28% have been fully vaccinated. In total, 452,225 doses have been received. As of June 1, around 2,300 children between the ages of 12 to 15 years old have received the first dose.