Latest COVID death was resident at Worland senior living facility

A Washakie County resident previously identified as one of Wyoming’s laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has died, the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) reported in a press release on Thursday, May 21..

The older man was a resident of the Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a Five Star Senior Living center, identified earlier as experiencing COVID-19 outbreak. Testing has so far identified five cases among facility staff and six cases among residents.

On Sunday there were nine cases reported, five staff and four residents. Washakie County Public Health reported three additional COVID cases today, two from the senior living facility and one is a close contact of a previously identified known positive case.

One of the cases from the center is counted among Hot Springs County cases.

Investigations are underway for these new cases. Anyone who is identified as a close contact to someone with Covid-19 will be notified and given further information and instructions.

There have now been 12 reported deaths, 608 lab-confirmed cases and 193 probable cases reported so far among Wyoming residents.

COVID-19 can be transmitted by infected people who don’t yet have symptoms. Disease symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after virus exposure and include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.

The Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation, through its "community spokesperson," issued this statement on Wednesday, prior to the report of the death.

"At Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, our top priority is ensuring the health and well-being of our community. In order to fully measure the status of COVID-19 at our community and to equip our caregivers to respond quickly and effectively, we completed testing on all residents and team members on May 15 and 16, even though no community members present were showing signs or symptoms. Our team worked swiftly to test all team members and residents, and, within 48 hours, we had received the test results and secured a dedicated COVID-19 unit to quarantine and care for any positive residents.

To date, four of our residents and five of our team members have tested positive. Upon being made aware of test results, we immediately informed all residents, team members and families. At this time, these residents remain under quarantine in our dedicated COVID-19 unit where they are receiving the appropriate medical care. The team members who have tested positive are all under self-quarantine away from the community.

Our dedicated caregivers – all of whom wear department-of-health-required personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times – are actively monitoring residents and staff for signs and symptoms of COVID-19, including conducting regular temperature checks. We will continue to engage with local health officials and follow all appropriate protocols and guidelines to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Our ability to test the entire community in such a short time is a direct result of the state’s quick response in delivering the kits needed to test for COVID-19 on-site. That removed the need for anyone to leave our community and expose themselves to unnecessary risk. All tests were administered in a safe and highly controlled setting in strict accordance with CDC guidelines.

We would like to thank the Worland community for all they have done to provide assistance as we continue to fight the spread of COVID-19. From delivering meals to our caregivers to helping set up a testing and sanitation station for our team members to use before and after work, we are overwhelmed by the acts of kindness and support demonstrated by the residents of Worland every day."

For more information about COVID-19 from WDH, visit: https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/novel-coronavirus/.