At a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Mark Gordon extended statewide public health orders through August 15 following weeks of increasing COVID-19 cases in the state.
In comparison to other states though, Gordon said Wyoming is faring well.
At a press conference, he reiterated the importance of following social distancing protocols, especially wearing a mask.
"It's really simple: if you're just dead set on taking down Wyoming's economy, don't wear these," Gordon said, holding up his own mask. "Make sure you put these on as you feel comfortable and you can because these are the things that's going to keep us open."
Additionally, Gordon said more than $300 million in federal coronavirus relief money is going out into the state Tuesday. That includes about $100 million that will be going to businesses, $26 million to the University of Wyoming, $40 million for expanded COVID-19 testing and $35 million dollars to county governments. He said an additional $51 million in federal CARES Act funding will go to K-12 schools.
"The money will support the reopening of schools and include $42 million to support distance learning and 9 million for personal [protective] equipment," he said.
The state is also considering providing relief funding to community colleges and unemployment.
Gordon added that within the next day, the CREG pacing study, a snapshot of the state's economic position, will be released for July. He said it's an improvement over April's "abysmal report," though he said it's still not back to where he'd like to see it.
He added that recent economic reports show that sales tax revenues are rising, which is a good sign, but this is still a critical time in the state's economy.
Have a question about this story? Contact the reporter, Catherine Wheeler, at cwheel11@uwyo.edu.
