March, April Coronavirus-Related Deaths Added to Wyoming Total

The Wyoming Department of Health confirmed Monday that the deaths of two Wyoming residents that occurred in March and April have been added to the State’s total count of COVID-19 deaths. According to the Department of Health, both deaths occurred in Colorado, and were recently reported to Wyoming’s Vital Statistics Services Office, which is part of the Wyoming Department of Health. Neither of the deaths had previously been included in Wyoming’s case count.

An older woman from Carbon County who had existing conditions that put her at higher risk for serious illness related to the virus died in late April. An older man from Laramie County died in late March, but it remains unclear whether he had higher risk-related conditions. Department of Health Deputy State Registrar Guy Beaudoin said that when Wyoming residents pass away in another state from a disease such as COVID-19, it is a widely accepted practice to track those deaths based on the location of the person’s permanent residence.

Beaudoin  added that in Wyoming, they have instructed medical certifiers such as attending physicians and coroners that COVID-19 should only be reported on death certificates when the disease caused or contributed to a person’s death, so if someone who happens to be positive for COVID-19 died due to an automobile accident, their passing would not be counted as a coronavirus-related death.

Deaths associated with COVID-19 are being counted by WDH in the same manner as influenza-related deaths have long been reported in Wyoming with a focus on death certificate information. The number of coronavirus cases rose by 11 Monday in Wyoming, six in Natrona County, two in Hot Springs County, and one case each in Johnson, Fremont, and Albany counties. As of Monday evening, there were 10 deaths, 577 lab-confirmed cases and 189 probable cases reported for Wyoming during the COVID-19 pandemic.