Bar and restaurant tables will need to seat no more than 6 people at a time and be spaced at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart. Staff must wear face coverings and be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 under new state public health orders taking effect Friday. As many as 25 people — up from 10 currently — will be allowed to gather, enabling movie theaters and other performance venues to reopen with limited numbers of customers. On a day when Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks announced plans to begin reopening Monday after an eight-week closure, Gordon urged people to continue to be careful to avoid spreading the virus. “Even as we ease restrictions, the virus is not gone. It is still here, it is still invisible and it is still capable of wreaking havoc,” Gordon said at a news conference. Wyoming had over 10 times more active cases of the coronavirus than the known number in the state when Gordon announced the business and public-gathering restrictions in March. As of Wednesday, Wyoming had 208 active lab-confirmed and suspected cases of the coronavirus. Another 480 people with confirmed and suspected cases had recovered. Yet the number of COVID-19 deaths in Wyoming, seven, had not increased for over three weeks and remained among the lowest of any state. Adjusted for population, only Hawaii had as few deaths. The number of people in Wyoming hospitalized with the coronavirus remained stable at about 10, and the rate of people testing positive, 3.9%, has dropped slightly and remained well below the national average of 9% to 13%, Gordon said. Meanwhile, the Wyoming Department of Health would get $15 million in federal funding to help increase coronavirus testing and contact tracing, or finding out who has been in contact with people with the virus, Gordon announced. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
Wyoming to loosen COVID-19 restaurant, bar, gathering rules.