- Associated Press - Thursday, April 23, 2020

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming will begin modifying health orders intended to contain the coronavirus so that certain businesses can potentially begin reopening in the weeks ahead, Gov. Mark Gordon announced Thursday.

State officials meanwhile unveiled a system of stoplight colors for informing the public about prevalence of the virus and hospital capacity to handle severe cases.

Orders closing schools and businesses ranging from bars and dine-in restaurants to nail salons have been in place in Wyoming since March 19.

State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist will begin issuing new, modified orders next week that will remain in effect through May 15. Local officials may request more or less restrictive variances depending on local conditions, Gordon said.

“We are building a plane as we are flying it and with your help - and I stress, with your help - we will keep it in the air,” Gordon said at a televised news conference.

Restaurants, barbershops, cosmetologists and gyms could be among the first businesses to reopen, Gordon said.

Public schools, too, could potentially begin reopening as early as this spring for certain populations of students in a “very limited manner,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow said at the news conference.

“All school districts must submit a reopening-schools plan to the state that is approved not only by the local and state health officers but the superintendent of schools and myself,” Balow said.

Gordon made the announcement in a week when deaths from the COVID-19 illness rose from two to seven. The latest victims included four members of the Northern Arapaho tribe and a Teton County resident.

Public safety and allowing people to get back to work will guide the state’s decisions about containing the virus, Gordon said.

“But we need to slowly relax these restrictions and get ourselves ready for the new normal of business in 2020,” said Gordon, a Republican.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

Under the new color-coded virus monitoring gauge, community spread of the virus remained at a red, or “concerning,” level. The number of new cases and percentage of tests coming back positive were at a yellow, or“stabilizing,” level, but had not yet reached a green, or “improving,” state.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 remained “concerning” but availability of hospital beds for such patients was “stabilizing.”

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