By Dave Bonner, Powell Tribune
Don’t let the low numbers for known cases of coronavirus in Wyoming and Park County lull you into complacency and any false sense of security.
That’s the message of plain talk opinion pieces in this newspaper today, and last week, offered to the community by direct primary care physicians Dean Bartholomew and Mike Tracy of 307Health in Powell.
The numbers are low but those figures don’t tell a complete story. That’s because the Wyoming Department of Health has not yet conducted widespread testing in the state. When you don’t test, the number of identified cases doesn’t go up.
That should not be taken, Dr. Tracy writes, as an indication that COVID-19 is not in our communities. He and other physicians know the virus spreads quietly and that if we had more testing, we’d have a more realistic picture of what’s going on.
Dr. Aaron Billin, the Park County health officer, has been tirelessly driving home the same points in interviews, emails, public notices and posts to social media. He’s been working seemingly around the clock to help inform and protect our community, stressing the importance of social distancing.
Dr. Billin has been cheered to have several days go by with no new confirmed cases in Park County — and he thinks the dramatic changes that residents and businesses have made to their daily routines are making a difference. But we’re by no means out of the woods.
