Active cases of COVID-19 continue to sink in Park County, with 20 active confirmed or probable cases as of Wednesday afternoon. It was the lowest number of active infections reported in the county since mid-September.

The figures were also down from 31 active cases reported a week earlier and represented a fraction of the 176 active infections reported in mid-January. 

On Monday night, Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin said that, on a per-capita basis, “we are still a problem county in Wyoming.” However, “Washakie and Hot Springs Counties are way down, which signals a good trend for the Big Horn Basin,” Billin wrote on Facebook.

Two COVID-19 patients were hospitalized at Cody Regional Health on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Park County Public Health is continuing to vaccinate prioritized populations of people against the disease — including anyone ages 65 and up.

Supplies still remain relatively limited, but local public health officials had delivered initial doses to more than 4,740 people as of Feb. 17, Billin said, with nearly 2,400 of them fully immunized with two doses.

Although the Wyoming Department of Health is offering a sign-up list for vaccinations, it’s separate from Park County Public Health’s local efforts.

“The only way to register for a vaccination clinic in Park County is online,” Billin said, referring people to www.parkcounty.us/CoronaVirus.html. The site also contains information about eligibility and the vaccines themselves. Billin said local libraries, senior centers and churches have asked to assist those who have a hard time with the online registration.

Although dropping case numbers across Wyoming have led the state to relax some of the public health orders restricting gatherings, Billin has said the statewide mask mandate will likely be one of the last restrictions to go.

“Masks are cheap, easy, effective (overwhelming scientific evidence), and safe (also great data). And they don’t close down anyone’s business,” he said. “Unfortunately, masks have been highly politicized and have become inappropriate symbols of perceived oppression and tyranny.”

In a Wednesday morning message to its members, the Wyoming Republican Party said the state’s public health orders “were seen by a majority of Wyomingites as not only draconian, but an infringement on our basic civil liberties.” Complaining of a “COVID-19 power grab,” the party encouraged its members to support a bill that would “limit the ability to use COVID-19 (or something similar in the future) as a means to grow government and infringe on our God-given rights.”

The proposed legislation, Senate File 80, would allow counties to “opt out” of public health orders with a majority vote by their county commission and would also place limits on how long an order can last without ratification by a city or county government or — if on a statewide level — the Legislature. Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, is a cosponsor of the bill.

The Wyoming Senate’s Labor, Health & Social Services Committee was tentatively set to take up the legislation Wednesday afternoon, but ran out of time. Sen. Fred Baldwin, R-Kemmerer, the chairman of the committee, said the bill would likely be considered on Wednesday, March 3.