State Health Officer Comments on Nursing Home Outbreak

The Wyoming Department of Health announced Wednesday that a Washakie County resident previously identified as one of Wyoming’s laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases has died. The older woman is one of three residents of the Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center who have died of COVID-19. Wyoming State Health Officer and State Epidemiologist Dr. Alexia Harrist said that the outbreak at the nursing home in Worland is extremely concerning.

The nursing home in Casper that Dr. Harrist referred to is the Life Care Center of Casper, which confirmed last Thursday that one of their residents had tested positive for COVID-19. A positive test of a child at the Learning Junction Children’s Center in Casper last week prompted mass testing at the nursing home and the child care center. None of the nearly 300 tests that were conducted came back positive for COVID-19. As of Wednesday night, the Department of Health reported 14 coronavirus-related deaths, 653 lab-confirmed cases and 207 probable cases in Wyoming.