County marks third COVID-19 death

Sweetwater County has its third COVID-19 death, according to Sweetwater County District Board of Health.

Kim Lionberger, Sweetwater County Public Health Director, said a Rock Springs man in his 60s tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct 23. He was admitted to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County on Saturday, Oct. 31. Hospital staff reported to Public Health the man died that evening.

The deceased had health conditions recognized as putting patients at higher risk of serious illness related to COVID-19, Lionberger said.

Deaths among Wyoming residents are added to the state’s coronavirus-related death total based on official death certificate information and the location of the person’s permanent residence, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Deaths among Wyoming residents who pass away in other states are not counted in both states. If death certificates do not describe COVID-19 as either causing or contributing to a person’s death, those deaths are not included in Wyoming’s count of coronavirus-related deaths.

As of Monday, Sweetwater Memorial has two COVID-19 patients hospitalized. In the last week, more than 15 percent of those swabbed in Sweetwater County tested positive for COVID-19. In the last six days, the number of positive cases has increased by 100.

More health and community updates can be found on the Public Health and Sweetwater Memorial Facebook pages and at sweetwatermemorial.com, covid19.wyo.gov, and cdc.gov.