Updated at 10:50 pm to include information from the Wyoming Department of Health. It has been shared at the bottom of this post.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe announced tonight, May 16th, that a tribal member has passed away due to COVID-19. No other information has been released at this time.
This is the fifth COVID-19 related death in Fremont County. All of whom have been Northern Arapaho tribal members. The first announcement came on April 21st after two elders, an adult female and an adult male passed away. They had all been hospitalized, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.
Positive COVID-19 cases have steadily increased over the last few weeks as testing numbers also increase. The latest update from the Wyoming Department of Health says there are 202 positive cases in Fremont County. These numbers were last updated just after 12:00 pm today.
Below is a release from the WDH at 10:45 pm:
A Fremont County resident previously identified as one of Wyoming’s laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has died, according to the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH).
The newly confirmed death involves an older hospitalized woman who had existing conditions that put her at higher risk of serious illness related to the virus. There have now been 8 reported deaths, 559 lab-confirmed cases and 182 probable cases reported so far from across Wyoming.
WDH recommendations to help slow the spread of illness include:
- Follow current public health orders.
- Stay home when sick and avoid contact with other people unless you need medical attention.
- Follow common-sense steps such as washing your hands often and well; covering your coughs and sneezes; and cleaning and disinfecting.
- Wear cloth face coverings in public setting where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
- Older people and those with health conditions that mean they have a higher chance of getting seriously ill should avoid close-contact situations.
Disease symptoms, which may appear 2 to 14 days after virus exposure, include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.
For more information about COVID-19 from WDH, visit: https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/novel-coronavirus/.