County health officials from throughout Wyoming have called on Gov. Mark Gordon to institute a statewide face mask order as COVID-19 infections continue to skyrocket.
Nearly all of the state’s county health officers, as well as leaders of the Wyoming Hospital Association and Wyoming Medical Society, sent a joint letter to Gordon on Thursday afternoon asking that a statewide order be instituted.
“Our numbers have continued to increase as many have disregarded our recommendations. Education and encouragement alone have not achieved desired outcomes. Our health care resources are becoming critically strained with hospitalizations and deaths increasing,” the letter reads.
While the letter says that “all County Health Officers were united in recommending a statewide mask ordinance,” it is signed by officers from 21 of 23 counties. Fremont County does not currently have a health officer. Niobrara County health officer Dr. Joleen Falkenburg also did not sign. The Star-Tribune has reached out to both Falkenburg and the Cheyenne-Laramie County Health Department, which distributed the letter, for comment.
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Wyoming have continued to exceed previous records throughout the fall. As of Thursday, 192 people were hospitalized for the virus statewide, the most of any time since the pandemic first emerged.
