Still in red, but health officials admit we’re turning a corner on COVID

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Teton County Health Department is announcing changes to the COVID-19 Dashboard as the county says it is preparing to move out of the “emergency phase of the pandemic.”

“Though Teton County has remained in the High or Red COVID-19 Risk Level since July 2021, there have been changes that make Teton County’s COVID-19 situation different from other areas of the country,” said McKinnley Cox, COVID public health advisor.

Cox also noted three reasons for relaxing some online metrics on the dashboard.

• Teton County has a very high COVID-19 vaccination rate. As of February 14, 87.78% of Teton County’s population has received the initial series of the COVID-19 vaccine according to the Wyoming Department of Health.
• Low hospitalizations and low population fatality rate from COVID-19.
• The nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself is changing; the current circulating Omicron variant is more contagious but less likely to cause severe disease, particularly in a resilient community such as Teton County.

Beginning today, users may see some changes to the Teton County COVID-19 dashboard. There will be no changes on how the COVID-19 risk level is determined. The case rate and percent of tests positive will remain on the dashboard since this data shows how much COVID is circulating in the community. This information is still important for members of our community that are more vulnerable or anyone who wishes to take steps to avoid exposure to COVID-19.

The amount of virus currently circulating in the community remains a major factor in determining an individual’s risk of exposure. Users will see some new COVID-19 data presented that health officials feel is important to show at this time in the pandemic, and helps tell a more complete picture of the COVID-19 situation in the community. These include things like the percent of the population that is vaccinated, percent of the population that has received a booster, and a graph of hospitalizations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.