State Reports 295 New COVID-19 Cases And Four New Deaths

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Department of Health on Wednesday reported 295 new cases of COVID-19 and four new deaths.

There have been a total of 10,497 cases and 117 deaths so far, according to UDOH.

Of the confirmed cases, 829 required hospitalization. There are currently 108 patients hospitalized in Utah for coronavirus treatment.

The state has issued 223,981 tests, and an estimated 6,501 have recovered.

“I want to be very clear today that we have increased spread of COVID-19 in Utah,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn. “This past week we’ve had a sharp spike in cases and it’s not explained easily by a single outbreak or increase in testing. This is a statewide trend.”

Governor Gary Herbert started loosening restrictions last month. Dunn said state health officials knew it likely would lead to an increase in cases in Utah.

“Loosening restrictions does not mean that the risk of spread is decreasing,” she said. “This means that we must continue to take actions as individuals to avoid unnecessary illness and death due to COVID-19 in Utah.”

Dunn said the change in restrictions is not what caused the spike in cases. Rather, she said, “It’s what we do in society with our actions that can cause COVID-19 to spread more readily.”

Dunn said Utahns still must practice social distancing, good hygiene and staying home if anyone has coronavirus symptoms.

 

The Utah Public Health and Economic Emergency Commission recommended Tuesday that the state moves to a “smart green” phase, which would allow all businesses to open while still being required to practice social distancing and wear masks.

However, Dunn slammed the door on any move to green this week.

“Based on the data we have seen in the past week, we don’t recommend any jurisdiction in the state going to green,” she said.

Herbert would have to approve any change to the statewide risk level. Dunn said she did not know whether Herbert was inclined to make any changes this week.

Dunn said nine of the 13 Utah health jurisdictions experienced a growth of more than 15 percent in the past week.

“This really is a statewide trend,” she added. “It could mean that we’re just starting the acceleration phase of the outbreak and can anticipate further increases over the coming weeks. So we’re very much working hard at continuing our contact tracing efforts — making sure that the public is aware of the actions they need to take as individuals to stop the spread and, of course, making sure individuals have access to testing should they need testing for COVID-19.”

Dunn said the majority of new cases are the result of exposures in the workplace and households and she expects an uptick in cases in the next 14 days because of large protests following the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police.

“Any situation where you have a lot of people gathered for prolonged period of time and they’re really close together, that is a situation where we’re, of course, concerned for COVID-19 spread. So, we’re certainly going to be watching our numbers over the next week or two to determine if we do see an uptick (in cases).”

Dunn said anyone who took part in the protests should watch for symptoms over the next two weeks, isolate immediately if they have even mild symptoms and contact their healthcare provider.