Two Wyoming residents who passed away in Colorado from COVID-19 have been added to Wyoming’s death toll, the Wyoming Department of Health announced Monday.

Department spokeswoman Kim Deti says an older Carbon County woman who had existing conditions that put her at higher risk of serious illness related to the virus died in late April.

She says an older Laramie County man also died in late March, but it's unclear whether he had higher risk-related conditions.

Deti says the department was recently made aware of the deaths, and it's a widely accepted practice to track those deaths based on the location of the person’s permanent residence.

“In Wyoming, we have instructed medical certifiers such as attending physicians and coroners that COVID-19 should only be reported on death certificates when the disease caused or contributed to a person’s death,” said Deputy State Registrar Guy Beaudoin.

“So if someone who happens to be positive for COVID-19 died due to an automobile accident, their passing would not be counted as a coronavirus-related death," he added.

Deti says deaths associated with COVID-19 are being counted in the same manner as influenza-related deaths have long been reported in Wyoming with a focus on death certificate information.

There are now 10 deaths, 577 lab-confirmed cases and 189 probable cases reported for Wyoming during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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