CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming’s governor on Friday extended a two-week shutdown of schools and businesses to contain the coronavirus, saying a surge in people with the illness required “sustained action.”
Gov. Mark Gordon in a statement urged residents to continue staying home except for essential needs and to practice social distancing - keeping at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart and not gathering in groups of 10 or more - when they did go out.
The announcement means that the shutdown he had announced on March 19 through April 3 will now extend until April 17.
“I understand the ongoing strain that these measures are having on businesses, workers and Wyoming communities,” Gordon said. “This is how we can save lives and protect people’s health.”
Gordon to date has held back from issuing a statewide stay-at-home order like neighboring states, including Colorado and Montana. But on the advice of health officials, he has shut down establishments including bars, dine-in service at restaurants, museums, theaters, hair salons and tattoo shops.
Gordon had hinted in a news conference Wednesday he would extend the shutdown order, saying it was clear that the spread of infections would not end by first week of April.
The shutdown extension complicates planning as school officials look at offering distance education. All school districts must have a plan approved by the Wyoming Department of Education by April 6 in order to continue to get state funding, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow said in a statement Friday.
“We are working through immense challenges with laws, policies, practices and logistics. The collaboration among state leaders and local districts has been incredible,” Balow said. “We are all working together to give our students the education they deserve during this trying time.”
Wyoming on Friday had at least 70 confirmed cases of the new virus in 13 of its 23 counties, up from 26 cases Monday as testing for the virus became more available.
Health officials assumed the actual prevalence of the virus in Wyoming and elsewhere in the U.S. is much higher because relatively few people are tested for the COVID-19 virus.
For most people, the new 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 and death. The vast majority of people recover.
In other Wyoming coronavirus developments:
- Wyoming could lose more than 26,000 jobs by summer as a result of business shutdowns and isolation measures to contain the coronavirus, according to an Economic Policy Institute report. Leaders in Wyoming’s nearly $4 billion-a-year tourism industry expect significant harm from the COVID-19 virus, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.
- Distillers including Chronicles Distilling and Pine Bluffs Distilling in southeast Wyoming started distilling alcohol to produce hand sanitizer, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports.
- Public intoxication arrests in the Jackson area are down since Gordon’s March 19 order shutting down bars and restaurants statewide for two weeks, the Jackson Hole New & Guide reports.
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