Posted Tuesday, April 21, 2020 8:25 am

Gov. Mark Gordon says state officials will soon announce a phased plan for easing off the public health restrictions now in place across Wyoming. However, the governor warned that things will not return to normal for some time, saying the state’s “phased recovery plan” will call for continued social distancing and “new operational guidelines for businesses.”

“We are living in a time where the new reality is that COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future,” Gordon said Friday. “Until we have a vaccine or a treatment, things are going to be different.”

The health orders now in place — which have shut down and limited numerous businesses, schools and events around the state — are set to last through April 30. Gordon said the timeline for easing off those orders will be “driven by health data” rather than any specific date. And he said it’s “crucial” that residents continue to adhere to the guidelines in the meantime.

“If the people of Wyoming continue to do the right thing and we see the improvements we need to see, we will continue our transition to a stabilized economy,” Gordon said. “We need our economy back, but we must avoid a resurgence of this virus.”

Although the symptoms can resemble a cold or the annual flu, COVID-19 is believed to be more contagious and significantly deadlier. The new coronavirus produces mild or moderate symptoms in most people, but it can lead to severe respiratory symptoms that require hospitalization and, in rare cases, death. Those who are older or with underlying health problems are particularly vulnerable.

As of Monday afternoon, the Wyoming Department of Health was reporting 317 confirmed cases (plus 111 probable cases) of COVID-19, with two deaths attributed to the disease. According to state data analyzed by the Casper Star-Tribune, the number of active confirmed and probable cases in the state has dropped from a high of 234 people on April 14 to 189 as of Monday.

Park County has had one confirmed case, a Cody woman who has since recovered. As of Monday, Big Horn County had one active case and two probable cases, defined as “close contacts of lab-confirmed cases with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.”

Gordon said the state will continue to closely monitor the spread of the virus to inform its decisions — and the pandemic is not expected to peak in Wyoming for a couple more weeks.

Two key parts of Wyoming’s plan, the governor indicated, will be ensuring there’s increased testing for the disease and enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care providers; he said the state has been experiencing “serious shortages” of testing and PPE so far.

Gordon contended in his Friday statement that Wyoming has remained “open for business” amid the restrictions, though businesses like theaters, gyms, bars and salons have been ordered to close. Calls to relax the restrictions have been growing as time has gone by and as unemployment has skyrocketed. A rally for the “choice to work” was held Monday at the State Capitol in Cheyenne.

“If we do not open on the original end date of April 30, we will see economic disasters shutting more businesses in this state for good,” Wendy Coe of Cody wrote on Gordon’s Facebook page Sunday. “The economic impact of shut downs is affecting [too] many lives. As many psychiatrists have said the depression from social distancing and isolation as well as the economic disaster will cause more deaths than the disease will eventually.”

Other commenters posted similar views about the need to “reopen” the state.

Gordon said in Friday’s news release that Wyomingites have made “tremendous” sacrifices, “but it has been worth it.”

“We have saved lives,” he said.

The Trump administration has released “Guidelines for Opening Up America Again” that include three phases. Before moving forward with any of those phases, the guidelines say states should be seeing a downward trend in influenza-like illnesses and documented COVID-19 cases while having hospitals able to treat all incoming cases and robust testing in place for at-risk health care workers. Gordon indicated that he views the state’s current restrictions as being consistent with “Phase One,” though Wyoming’s rules are more restrictive in barring large gatherings and closing gyms.

The governor said the state’s “phased recovery plan” will be released this week