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Stories, Stats, Impacts: Wyoming Public Media is here to keep you current on the news surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

Albany County Surges To 600 Active Coronavirus Cases

Wyoming Department of Health
A majority of the county's cases are young people, according to the Wyo Dept. of Health.

Albany County has nearly 600 active, confirmed cases of the coronavirus, leading the state in total cases that have occurred since March.

More than 3% of the county's population have tested positive at some point during the pandemic, while a full 1.5% are currently sick. That percentage is based on the U.S. Census estimates and includes University of Wyoming students.

Medical professionals and some survivors of the virus have criticized what they call a weak government response.

Dr. Grace Gosar is with the Laramie Downtown Clinic. She said Governor Mark Gordon's calls for personal responsibility are not working to stem the spread.

"Because he's been doing that from the get-go and yet Wyoming is on a dramatic increase, right now," Gosar said. "And how many times are we going to watch something like Florida, or New York, or Italy happen before we decide that a mask mandate can make a difference?"

But Gosar also said people need to follow public health recommendations more closely. That means frequent hand-washing, social distancing and wearing masks.

"I really do feel we prioritize personal freedoms over community care," she said. "We care more about our ability to not wear a mask than we care about our community and our willingness to protect vulnerable people. And we are arrogant to think we are not those vulnerable people."

Late last week, Albany County surpassed one thousand cases - the first Wyoming county to do so. Cases continued to rise through the weekend, officially hitting 1,371 confirmed and probable cases Monday afternoon.

Locally, two of Albany's three county commissioners said they are not alarmed by the rise in cases.

Jeff is a part-time reporter for Wyoming Public Media, as well as the owner and editor of the Laramie Reporter, a free online news source providing in-depth and investigative coverage of local events and trends.
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