COVID-19 daily briefing: April 2, 2020

As of 10 a.m., April 2, 2020 

1. Wyoming: Confirmed cases of COVID-19: 150. Recovered: 31
2. By county: Laramie leads the state with 36 confirmed cases, followed by Teton with 29, Fremont with 26, Natrona with 19 and Sheridan with 10. Seven counties have reported no cases. 
3. Testing: 2,589 tests had been administered and processed, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. 
4. United States: 216,768 confirmed cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute. Total deaths: 5,148 — Total recoveries: 8,710.
5. The latest: New numbers released by Fremont County health officials give a more thorough picture of the outbreak there than limited testing accounted for. According to the data, on March 31 alone physicians directed 56 patients from Dubois, Lander, Riverton, Fort Washakie, Arapaho and Pavilion with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 infection to self-isolate. County healthcare providers have directed more than 600 people to self-isolate in the last two weeks. “The hundreds of patients were and are people young and old who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 infection,” Fremont County Public Health Officer Dr. Brian Gee said in a video. “The young are not immune.” Half of the state’s 16 hospitalized patients are in Fremont County, Gee said, and several are “critically ill” and on ventilators. The Wind River Inter-Tribal Council, which represents the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes, issued a temporary stay-at-home order for tribal members on the Wind River Indian Reservation. “Our message is simple: Help us save lives. Please stay home,” Northern Arapaho Business Council Chairman Lee Spoonhunter said. 
6. More news: COVID-19 comes to the rural outpost of Centennial. Predicting a surge of patients to his hospital, one Casper physician created an ad-hoc and offsite screening clinic to offer frontline care — during its first two weeks in March, more than 1,000 patients visited. The state’s mineral industries have asked Gov. Mark Gordon to consider mining and drilling operations “essential” activities. 

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