Unita County Man Dies From COVID-19, Raising Wyoming Total to 29

A Uinta County man has died from COVID-19, the Wyoming Department of Health announced Tuesday.

The older adult man was previously tested positive for the coronavirus, had health conditions recognized as putting patients at higher risk of serious illness, and had been hospitalized.

This marked the 29th death from the disease in the state.

Deaths among Wyoming residents are added to the state’s coronavirus-related death total based on official death certificate information. If the disease did not cause or contribute to the person’s death, that person’s death is not reflected in Wyoming’s count of coronavirus-related deaths even if the person is known to be positive for the virus.

In June, public health officials in Uinta County urged local residents to redouble their efforts in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 after a recent spike in new cases indicated "significant community spread" of the coronavirus.

Among Wyoming residents, there have now been 29 coronavirus-related deaths, 2,565 lab-confirmed cases and 477 probable cases reported.

There have been 2,081 recovered lab-confirmed cases, and 402 recovered probable cases. Probable cases are close contacts of lab-confirmed cases with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

According to the Wyoming Department of Health, disease symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure. Symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.

Older residents and people with certain health conditions have a higher risk of developing more serious illness.

Experts believe COVID-19 spreads from person-to-person mainly through close contact. People without symptoms may spread the virus.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the Department of Health's website.