SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has asked churches, among others, to limit gatherings to fewer than 100 people for two weeks, beginning on Monday.
He also asked people over the age of 60 and those with compromised immune systems to avoid gatherings of more than 20 people.
“So we are eliminating mass gatherings above 100 for the next two weeks beginning Monday, March 16,” he said. “This includes church gatherings.”
“And that is 100 healthy individuals,” he added. “If people are not healthy, they should not opt in to these gatherings. So if you feel sick, don’t show up.”
Leaders of some of the state’s largest congregations said they would follow the guidelines.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints previously announced that all stake conferences in the United States have been canceled, beginning Monday. Those conferences bring hundreds or even thousands of people together in a meetinghouse.
About 1,000 people physically attend worship services at K2 the Church in Murray every Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
“We’re definitely going to fall right in line,” K2 the Church Rev. Dave Nelson said. “We actually stream our services right on Facebook Live already, and we’ve been doing that for a while.”
K2 the Church also holds large group meetings during the week for youth groups and for men’s and women’s groups. He said those will be canceled for the two-week period requested by the governor.
“We’re not the experts here,” he said. “We’re super grateful there are people giving their lives to figuring out what’s best to do, and we’re trusting their recommendations.”
Calvary Baptist Pastor Oscar T. Moses said his leadership team will meet tonight to determine how to alter plans for its congregations. He said about 250 people attend 8 a.m. services on Sundays and another 400 or so attend the 11 a.m. services.
“We are trying to be as proactive as we can be,” Pastor Moses said.
The governor said the state did not reach the recommendation lightly, but said the situation had changed significantly in the last 24 hours, including the decision by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to institute a virtual general conference on April 4-5, closing the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City to the public.
“This is what we need to do to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in our state to protect people’s health and to help us get through and weather this significant pandemic storm,” Herbert said.
He said state leaders know the virus will spread in Utah.
“We’re taking a very proactive position here in the state of Utah so we can minimize the spread here in the state of Utah,” he added.
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who heads Utah COVID-19 Task Force, said research has shown that preemptive public health measure are more effective than reactive measures.
“We are confident that with these announcements we will fare far better together,” Cox said.
“We’re not making these decisions today because things are really bad,” he added. “We’re making these decisions today to make sure things don’t get really bad. That’s important for people to understand.”
This story will be updated.