News Release

179 Yellowstone employees test negative for COVID-19 in second round of tests; Update on visitor statistics / Backcountry reopens June 15

A camper hangs food on a food pole at a park campsite.

NPS / Neal Herbert

News Release Date: June 11, 2020

Contact: Morgan Warthin, [phone]

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – For the second week in a row after conducting COVID-19 surveillance testing on Yellowstone employees, all tests came back negative. On June 4-5, health officials from Park County, Montana, tested 179 employees from the National Park Service and concession companies operating in the park. This brings the total number of employees tested in the past 10 days to 222. Moving forward the park will continue to test employees in partnership with both Montana and Wyoming.  

“I want to thank the states of Wyoming and Montana and our county health officials for partnering with us to increase surveillance testing capacity,” said Superintendent Cam Sholly. “This proactive testing is the only way for us to detect cases early and respond quickly to any employees who have the virus.” 

As introduced in the park’s reopening plan, this surveillance testing will continue throughout the summer and target employees who are first responders and/or work directly with the public. More information about the surveillance testing effort is available in the park’s news release from June 4.  

Additionally, the park sampled wastewater systems in Gardiner, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Old Faithful between May 18-26. Lab results indicated 0% prevalence of COVID-19 in those systems during those time frames. Additional samples will be taken on June 13 and 15, which will give the park a better idea of COVID-19 increases due to reopening.   

Visitation Statistics for June 1-10, 2020

	Vehicle counts		2020 percent of 2019 visitation
	June 1-10, 2020	June 1-10, 2019
Parkwide	42,075	78,190	54%
Wyoming Entrances (East and South)	14,728	22,139	67%
Montana Entrances (North, West, Northeast)	27,347	56,051	49%

Backcountry camping begins June 15

The park will begin issuing backcountry permits on June 15, 2020. All backcountry permits will be issued via email or phone through the Central Backcountry Office. The park maintains a Backcountry Situation Report for information about trail conditions, openings, and closings.