The Wyoming Department of Health is now recommending residents voluntarily wear face masks when going out to open public places with crowds, such as grocery stores or pharmacies.
The state's health officer, Dr. Alexia Harrist, said in a Monday news release that the state following guidelines from the CDC because of concerns that people can transmit coronavirus to others before showing symptoms.
“We want you to stay home and away from other people as much as possible,” Harrist said in a statement. “But if and when you do need to go out into the community, this is an extra voluntary measure CDC is suggesting to help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.”
Wyoming is one of a handful of states in the U.S. not to have a stay-at-home order in place. Gov. Mark Gordon has ordered the closure of all schools, nonessential businesses and banned gatherings in public places of more than 10 people to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.
These orders run through April 17.
Harrist said the recommendations are to wear cloth coverings made from common household items, not the N95 masks used by health care workers.
Visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover.html for more details and a video demonstration on making coverings for personal use. Added information on using and making the coverings can also be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html.
More information about COVID-19 and Wyoming can be found at https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/novel-coronavirus/.