Variances exempt county from state health orders

WORLAND — Washakie County Health Officer Dr. Amber Moss requested a variance on statewide Health Order 4 requiring face coverings in public spaces to protect the public from COVID-19. The variance was approved and signed on Friday, Feb. 19 by State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist.

The variance exempts individuals within Washakie County from the requirements in order 4 which states anyone over the age of 12 is required to wear a face covering outside of their home when in a business or government facility open to the public.

On Wednesday, Feb. 24, Moss reported that Harrist had also approved variances to exempt the county from the state health orders 1-3. The variances exempt the county from the state health orders in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools and childcare centers are not included in the variances and are not exempt from the state orders.

Regarding the mandate on face coverings, while the variances exempt county residents and businesses from the state health orders, organizations and businesses may choose to require face coverings.

Washakie Medical Center has a mandate requiring face coverings for anyone entering their facilities or clinics.

Some businesses in Worland also require customers to wear face coverings. The variances do not impact those mandates set by private businesses.

Superintendent David Nicholas said during the Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees meeting on Monday night that he and Moss held discussions regarding relaxing masks in the school. Nicholas told the board that he mainly said they were against relaxing due to quarantine rules in place at this time, and the masks remaining in place would help keep the number of quarantines down in the district if all the students continued to wear masks.

He also reported that around 80 staff have received the vaccine and around one-third of district staff has currently participated in the vaccination process.

WCSD No. 1 also has its own mandate requiring spectators at any event to wear a mask. That mandate is still in effect.

The variance on the face covering health order noted that as of Feb. 18 there are no skilled nursing facilities or assisted living facilities with active resident COVID-19 infections, that Washakie Medical Center has an adequate supply of testing options and has an adequate supply of person protective equipment.

The variances for the first three state health orders states that the positivity rate in the county was at 4.3% over the past 14 days with 77 cases per 100,000 population, as of Monday, Feb. 22.

The variance on State Health Order 1 regarding restaurants, cafes, bars and other places of public accommodation offering food or alcohol “may provide indoor and outdoor services without any of the restrictions mandated including limiting eight to a table or group and limiting tables to six feet.”

The variance also exempts gyms and fitness centers from the state health order that included requirements of six feet of distance between workout equipment, and limiting group workouts to 25 participants and it exempts movie theaters from the state orders that limited eight per group among other restrictions.

The county variance regarding the state health order 2 on public gatherings exempts the county from any of the gathering limits set by the state; however, for any indoor gathering larger than 500 people and any outside gathering larger than 1,000 people, organizers need written authorization from the county health officer.

The variance on state health order 3 allows salons and personal care services to provide services without the restrictions mandated by the state.

Washakie County Public Health said this week that the county remains in a low transmission zone but encourages the public to continue to observe social distancing, continue to do constant hand washing and to wear masks when you cannot maintain six feet of distance.

Washakie County Public Health moved into the next phase for COVID-19 vaccinations. The phase includes those with chronic conditions such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, solid organ transplant, sickle cell disease, down syndrome and pregnancy (pregnant women should discuss the vaccination with their provider prior to getting the vaccine).

Vaccines will continue to be available for 65 and older, and K-12 education staff and for any of the earlier phases, which includes:

•EMS, fire, police, 911, correctional staff, search and rescue, and other in-person emergency response personnel

•Grocery store employees, commercial meat processing employees, feedlot employees, and food manufacturing companies with 25 or more employees

•People on the Wyoming Medicaid Community Choices Waiver and Developmental Disabilities waivers.

Call Public Health at 347-3278 to schedule a vaccination appointment.

As of Tuesday, Washakie County had one active lab-confirmed case, 690 total COVID-19 cases.

The full variance and the statewide health orders can be found under the COVID tab at wyodaily.com.