For the first time in nearly nine months, the number of people actively infected with COVID-19 in Park County has dropped into the single digits.

The Wyoming Department of Health reported Wednesday that eight people in the county were dealing with confirmed and probable infections from the disease. The last time Park County had so few cases was June 2020.

As Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin prepared to post his weekly update on Sunday, he looked at the numbers for the state as a whole.

“And I said, ‘Boy, this really looks good,’” Billin said.

With the numbers trending down, Gov. Mark Gordon is preparing to remove several public health orders on Tuesday — lifting Wyoming’s mask mandate and restrictions on bars, restaurants and other businesses.

Still, one person was hospitalized with COVID-19 at Cody Regional Health, and the health department announced Tuesday that two more Park County residents — an older man and an older woman — died last month in connection with the novel coronavirus.

The man had health conditions recognized as putting patients at higher risk of developing a serious illness related to COVID-19, while it was unclear whether the woman did, according to the department.

They were the 28th and 29th Park County residents whose deaths have been caused or contributed to by COVID-19. The deaths have come among more than 2,600 confirmed and probable cases within the county since the start of the pandemic in March.

Meanwhile, Park County Public Health is continuing to partner with other organizations to vaccinate residents against COVID-19. As of Monday, 7,465 county residents had received at least one dose, with nearly 3,500 people fully vaccinated.

Across Wyoming, more than 103,400 residents had received at least an initial dose, which Billin noted was close to a fifth of the state’s population. Combined with people who have developed natural immunities to the virus after being infected, “this puts us much closer to herd immunity,” he said.

The health officer also said that the UK and South African variants do not appear to be widely circulating in Wyoming at this time.

“This is why the State Public Health Orders must be gradually phased out,” Billin said.

For up-to-date information about eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccines — or to sign up for a dose — visit http://parkcounty.us/CoronaVirus.html.