JACKSON, Wyo. — COVID-19 cases in Teton County are climbing again, following a brief decline in cases. Teton County COVID-19 metrics reports that on  Jan. 11, 65 new cases were reported, bringing the total active cases to 218, the second-highest on record since the onset of the pandemic. Nov. 17, had the highest active cases with 229 reported.

On Dec. 29, there were only 54 active cases in Teton County, the lowest amount of active cases since October.

Governor Gordon updated the statewide health orders effective Jan. 9. The new orders allow restaurants and bars to stay open past 10 p.m and permits gyms to increase the number of participants in group fitness classes from 10 to 25. These health orders are effective until Jan. 25.

Teton County Health Department announced on Jan. 12 that community members should expect delays in contact tracing and case investigations due to the increase in cases. The department is still trying to contact every positive case but it may take multiple days due to current caseloads.

Teton County Health Director, Jodie Pond, MPH stated, “When the number of COVID-19 cases is this high, it overwhelms our staff. Unless case numbers decrease, our team will not be able to contact all new positive cases each day. This is significant because it also delays other important steps, such as notifying the close contacts of positive cases.” Pond went on to say, “Based on past surges, we expect to see more hospitalizations in the coming weeks. Hospitalizations tend to lag a couple weeks behind spikes in COVID-19 cases.”

St. John’s Health reported data for Jan.11. There are 9 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients in the PCU and 1 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient in the ICU. The ICU is 17% occupied and 50% of the total hospital beds are occupied.