SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah health officials reported nearly 1,500 new COVID-19 cases, eight additional deaths, and the state’s record number of current hospitalizations Friday, Gov. Gary Herbert warned that four more counties may be facing additional restrictions next week.
“The spike in cases we have seen in recent weeks is unsustainable,” Herbert said in a statement.
“As Utahns, it is our duty to work together to turn things around. We must exercise all necessary precautions and follow all public health guidance. Utahns must wear a mask around others, socially distance and limit social gathering sizes. Unless we do these things, we can expect to see more sobering days like today.
“This is vital to ensure our health care system is not overwhelmed treating patients who contract COVID-19,” Herbert said.
The state smashed its record hospitalizations on Friday, with 290 patients currently being treated for the disease in hospitals — 32 more than Thursday. The previous record occurred on Wednesday, when 259 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Utah’s intensive care units are now 75% occupied overall — a percentage that officials have called unsustainable.
Herbert said that based on Friday’s data, four counties are expected to “automatically” be designated as “high” next week in the state’s new level of transmission index. Those counties are Davis, Summit, Washington, as well as possibly San Juan and/or Carbon, according to the governor’s office.
But later Friday, Herbert’s office sent out a statement saying it was “premature” to list counties that could change levels.
“We are grateful to Utahns who commit to limiting the spread of COVID-19. We must all do our part to protect the health and safety of our fellow Utahns and the economic well-being of our state,” Herbert said. “As families travel for fall break, please take extra precautions by keeping your distance from other family groups and wearing a mask if you can’t.”
Guidelines confusion
After state officials earlier this week replaced the former color-coded phased guidelines with a new “transmission index” to guide residents amid the pandemic, many have expressed confusion about how it affects them and the businesses they frequent.
While masks are now required at all public gatherings, nonpublic, casual gatherings have different restrictions based on the transmission level (high, moderate, low) in each of Utah’s 29 counties under the new guidelines. Church meetings are considered public gatherings, as are weddings, theaters and sporting events. The state is not defining how many people may attend public gatherings.
In counties in the high and moderate transmission levels, organizers of public events are required to place at least 6 feet between different household groups.
But some types of gathering places weren’t mentioned by state officials when explaining the new guidelines this week. What about businesses where people congregate — especially as they celebrate upcoming holidays — like haunted houses and shopping malls?
“Masks are required at any establishment that allows public gathering, such as live events, movie theaters, sporting events, weddings, recreation and entertainment. This mask requirement is for all counties, no matter what level of transmission risk a county is in,” the Utah Department of Health says in a “frequently asked questions” page on its website.
When asked for further clarification about what other venues need to comply with the mask mandate, a spokeswoman with the Utah Department of Health pointed to that excerpt on the department’s website.
Some residents remain concerned that cases in Utah will continue to skyrocket without clear messaging and enforcement.
Last Saturday, one Washington County farm that holds a yearly popular autumn attraction had an estimated 1,500 people there, many of whom lined up to get into a haunted house, according to one attendee who was visiting from northern Utah.
Photos from the night show few wearing face coverings and little space between guests — despite many signs requesting that visitors wear masks and social distance.
“There’s signs everywhere. And so I think most people buy tickets online, and when you go online they have a big banner that says ‘COVID-19’ and it explains their precautions, and that was why I felt fine buying the tickets and going,” said Suzanne, who asked that her full name not be published due to fear of retaliation from those who oppose wearing masks.
While some employees wore masks, no one appeared to enforce the mask requirement among guests, said Suzanne, who visited the farm with her granddaughter and a few of her granddaughter’s friends.
Though the group made an effort to keep their distance from others, they were “all a little nervous and a little blown away,” she said, as they are used to seeing most people wear masks in public in northern Utah. “And then they kind of commented after that, people would kind of look at us like we were crazy because we were in masks.”
Suzanne, a registered nurse, said she spoke about what she saw Saturday “because I want these businesses to stay open,” and hopes businesses will begin to take health mandates more seriously for everyone’s health — including that of her co-workers who are threatened even as hospitalizations spike.
Other types of businesses — those that don’t hold public events — are no longer regulated by the state health department as officials say they expect “that businesses know how to keep employees and patrons safe.” That includes gyms and malls, unless they are holding organized events.
Unlike public events, casual social gatherings — including among family and friends — are limited in size based on a county’s transmission level. Residents in counties listed as “high transmission” are required to wear masks in indoor public settings and outdoors where physical distancing isn’t possible. They also need to limit casual social gatherings to 10 people.
Residents in counties with a moderate transmission level must limit casual social gatherings to 25 or fewer people unless masks are worn; and residents in counties with a low transmission level must limit gatherings to 50 or fewer unless masks are worn, according to the state’s new guidelines.
New cases
The 1,496 cases Friday were confirmed out of 9,307 tests, with a 16.1% positive rate, according to the Utah Department of Health. The rolling seven-day average for new cases is 1,224 per day, and the average positive test rate is 13.9%.
Friday marked the third-highest daily increase in new cases with just two fewer cases than were confirmed on Thursday.
The eight deaths reported Friday bring the state’s toll due to the disease to 537. They were: two Utah County men, one Salt Lake County man and one Utah County woman, all four of whom were between the age of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died; a Davis County man between 45-64, who also hospitalized when he died; and a Box Elder County man older than 85, who was not hospitalized.
Two Utah County long-term care residents — a woman older than 85, and a woman between 65-84 — were also among the latest deaths.
Dr. Angela Dunn, epidemiologist with the state health department, took to Twitter Thursday night to tout the state’s low death rate — 0.58% — and to plead with Utahns to take the disease seriously nevertheless by sharing what she called “COVIDFacts.”
“#COVIDFact #Utah’s case fatality ratio is 0.61%. That is fantastic. It is dropping a bit too. The questions we need to answer are why and how should it impact our response?” Dunn tweeted.
“Why? We don’t know yet (I know this is an annoying answer). Could be better treatment as we have learned about the disease. Could be younger people getting infected. Or it could be that the deaths haven’t caught up with the surge in cases,” she said.
But “our hospitalizations are still increasing, really putting a strain on our providers and systems. And we are just now starting to understand the longer term effects of COVID on the body,” Dunn said on Twitter. The disease for some also causes “serious impacts on their ability to do normal daily activities weeks after the virus has left their body.”
“So, even though #Utah’s fatality ratio is decreasing, this doesn’t mean we are free to go back to our pre-COVID habits. The number of deaths are still too many, and we care about preventing much more than death,” Dunn tweeted.
Now 91,957 cases have been confirmed in Utah of 957,309 people tested since the pandemic began, with a positive rate of 9.6%. Just over 68,092 of those cases are considered recovered after surviving the three-week point since their diagnoses.