STAY HOME, WASH YOUR HANDS, PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING, SEND ONLY 1 PERSON TO THE STORE, LIMIT GROUP GATHERINGS TO UNDER 10 PEOPLE
Wyoming Governor Gordon holds Friday April 3 COVID-19 update
by Pinedale Online!
April 3, 2020
We don’t want to appear to be yelling using all caps in the headline, but it illustrates the definitive point Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon made today (Friday, April 3rd, 2020) during his afternoon video press conference to update the public on the status of COVID-19 in the state.
He minced no words, saying he wasn’t going to issue a Shelter in Place order because he trusted that Wyomingites knew by now what they had to do to keep the coronavirus from broadly spreading across the state through in our communities:
STAY HOME
WASH YOUR HANDS
MAINTAIN 6 FOOT DISTANCE FROM OTHERS
ONLY 1 PERSON FROM A HOUSEHOLD INTO THE STORE
NO GROUPS OF 10 PEOPLE OR MORE
He emphasized to parents to not let kids gather up for play dates, and for stores to not let customers mingle or bunch together in checkout lines, and for restaurants to only do curbside delivery and not allow customers into the stores. Most importantly, he stressed Wyomingites need to take the situation seriously to protect their own health and other people’s health.
A Shelter in Place Order won’t keep you safe. You need to keep you safe. "We need everyone to stay at home as much as possible." Appearing frustrated with those in the media who questioned his actions to date, he said "If you are waiting for a Shelter in Place Order, what are you waiting for?" He said passing an order that had page after page of exceptions as other areas have done issn’t very effective. He said he and the state health officials and his advisors are all unified in their message to the public:
- Stay Home
- Wash your hands
- Maintain 6 foot distance or more from others
- Send only one person from a household into the store for needed items
- Keep group gatherings under ten people and keep your distance from each other
Joining Governor Gordon in the conference was State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist, Dr. Lynn Budd-Security Unit Chief with the Office of Homeland Security, and Jillian Barlow-Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Governor Gordon said they believed the peak of the coronavirus illnesses would likely be sometime in early May for Wyoming, although it is very hard to model. They need to be very careful coming out of lock-down too soon so they don’t get a rebound surge of illnesses. "The virus doesn’t respect boundaries and can show up anywhere," he emphasized. He said they are still hearing reports of tremendous crowds of people on the top of Teton Pass and mobs of shoppers in some big box stores. He wants Wyomingites to take this seriously and act with individual responsibility for their actions.
The Governor said this is the worst health care and economic crisis we’ve ever seen, but working together we can face it, and build a better state.
Once again he stressed, this is the headline…
STAY HOME
Wash your hands
Practice extra social distancing
Send only one person from a household into a store
Keep group sizes less than 10 people
The recording of the video press conference may be viewed on the Wyoming PBS Facebook page or YouTube channel.
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