COVID-19 daily briefing: April 27, 2020

As of 10:30 a.m., April 27, 2020 

1. Wyoming: Confirmed cases of COVID-19: 370. Deaths: 7 — Recovered: 342. Probable, untested cases: 132. 
2. By county: Laramie County leads the state with 85 confirmed cases, followed by Fremont with 83, Teton with 64, Natrona with 39 and Campbell with 14. Two counties, Platte and Weston, have reported no cases. 
3. Testing: 8,528 tests have been administered and processed, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Experts and officials agree positive test numbers fall well short of the reality of the disease’s spread.
4. United States: 965,951 confirmed cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute. Total deaths: 54,877 — Total recoveries: 107,045.
5. The latest: Wyoming’s confirmed cases spiked over the weekend with 38 new cases tallied. The most notable bump — 17 — came in Fremont County, where testing and contract tracing have both recently increased. Officials there over the weekend reported that several asymptomatic grocery store workers were among those who tested positive. “We are grateful to these citizens and their employer because they diligently wore cloth face masks at work,” Fremont County Health Officer Brian Gee said in a press release. “This likely resulted in a significant reduction of transmission of illness within the workplace AND the community.” An economic office in Taiwan donated 50,000 medical face masks to Wyoming, Gov. Mark Gordon announced last week on Facebook. “We will be distributing those masks soon to where they are needed most,” Gordon said in his post. 
6. More news: Wyoming will not transition to an all-mail-in ballot for the August primary election, election officials told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, but anticipate scaling up absentee voting measures. In response to a UW survey about how COVID-19 has affected their practices, Wyoming physicians report that disruption is the new norm, and they are experiencing financial strain that they expect to continue. The Cheyenne Regional Medical Center is projecting a nearly $10 million loss in April, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. 

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