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It's up to all of us to keep our community healthy

  • Category: Health & Wellness, Community
  • Posted On:
  • Written By: Deb Sutton, Sweetwater Memorial Public Information Officer
It's up to all of us to keep our community healthy

Public Health urges everyone to do their part to stop the COVID-19 spread

Sweetwater County Public Health is overwhelmed with contact tracing of COVID-19 cases.

“We can’t keep up with the volume,” said Kim Lionberger, Sweetwater County Public Health Director. “We are not able to contact people in a timely manner like we have in the past. In some cases, it could be 24 to 48 hours before the contacts of a positive COVID-19 case are notified.

“Some people who know they have been in contact with a positive COVID-19 case, believe it’s OK to continue going to work and out socially until they hear from us,” she said. “Don’t wait to hear from us. Take precautions.”

Help us help you:

  • If you know you have been in contact with someone who is a confirmed positive case, stay home. Don’t wait for a call from a Public Health contact tracer.
  • If you feel sick, stay home.
  • If you’re sick, get tested.
  • Wear a mask and wash it after each use.

“We want to keep people in school and functioning in our community,” she said. “Everyone needs to do their part and take precautions.

“The majority of people will be fine,” she said. “But, if the number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to surge, it could create a huge influx of hospitalizations.”

Deb Sutton, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County spokeswoman, said contrary to some beliefs, “this information isn’t a scare tactic or fear mongering. These are real concerns.”

“Resources at hospitals statewide are being taxed. Our affiliate University of Utah Health will only take high-level transfers on a case-by-case basis,” she said. “Sweetwater County has been very fortunate up to this point. We don’t want hospital bed availability to become an issue in the coming weeks. Nor do we want to risk the health of our staff.”

Public Health is now hiring contact tracers. Check out the job description and requirements on the Public Health Facebook page. For more information, call Trista Cross at 307-922-5390 or email her at crosst@sweet.wy.us.

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.