Restrictions…
Utah’s governor declared a new state of emergency late Sunday
after�the
state’s most devastating week of the pandemic, as COVID-19
infections skyrocketed and deaths hit new highs. His big concern is
the surge in hospitalizations that may soon overwhelm doctors and
nurses.
Gov. Gary Herbert issued a series of new restrictions, including
a statewide mask mandate — a step he has resisted for months.
Unlike other restrictions, the governor intends to extend the
mask mandate “for the foreseeable future.†Businesses that fail
to comply will face fines.
The new executive orders are signed by Herbert and by Lt. Gov.
Spencer Cox, who is the governor-elect. They limit any social
gatherings to people in the same households and place a hold on all
school extracurricular activities, including athletic and
intramural events.
These restrictions take effect at 1 p.m. Monday and will end
Nov. 23, just a few days before Thanksgiving. The governor said the
state will offer holiday recommendations in the coming days.
This order doesn’t require any business to close, but
businesses and event hosts must require social distancing. The
order does not apply to churches
It doesn’t require any schools to go online — despite
a teachers
union pushing for junior high and high schools to go
virtual.
The new restrictions don’t stop professional or college sports
or the completion of the high school playoffs as long as coaches
and athletes test negative and the crowds are severely limited. The
order says there can be two attendees for every player or
coach.
Restaurants can serve only people from the same households and
must be able to keep groups 6 feet apart. Bars must close at 10
p.m. each night.
Utah Officials Plan to Require All College Students Get Tested for
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Utah leaders want to require that all college students in the
state get tested for COVID-19 once a week.
A mandate that would enforce that is expected to be announced
early next week as part of Gov. Gary Herbert’s plans to address
the record-setting
spread of the virus — which has spiked with schools reopening
this fall. The measure would apply to more than 230,000 students
across the state.
Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, who has worked with Herbert
to draft the requirement, confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune on
Friday that it is in the works.
“It’s not a rumor,†he said. “The virus is spiking all
over the country. And there are multiple reasons why. One is that
colleges and universities have gone back.â€
Adams said the rollout is expected to start Monday, but he
cautioned it will be gradual. “This will be a mammoth
undertaking,†he added.
The primary focus will be those who are attending in-person
classes. But under the plan, students
at the state’s eight public universities, as well as the
eight technical colleges, will be required to get a coronavirus
test weekly.
The offer has also been extended, Adams said, to include Brigham
Young University, which is private.
The idea, Adams said, came when Utah officials met last weekend
with Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the White House
Coronavirus Task Force, and Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two medical
experts recommended testing college students as a way to find cases
of COVID-19 — especially young patients who might be asymptomatic
— and isolate them before the virus spreads.
“These young people can spread it very, very prolifically and
rapidly,†Adams said.
The state has struggled with transmission on colleges campuses
since Herbert encouraged them to reopen with at least some
in-person options this fall. BYU
in Provo has seen by far the most spread. It has had 2,350
cumulative cases among students and staff on the campus of 43,000
after the semester started in August.
The University of Utah has followed with 1,270 on the campus of
62,000. Utah State in Logan has had 1,042 cases. And Utah Valley
University in Orem, which has the biggest student population in the
state, has had 595.
Much of the transmission has been blamed
on young adults throwing parties, particularly in Utah
County. But there has also been spread in the dorms. Utah
State initially quarantined nearly 300 students in August
around move-in when high traces of the virus were detected in the
wastewater.
Counts for the state show the highest rates of
infection in people ages 15 to 24. That group is at 6,461.8
cases per 100,000. By comparison, the next highest is 25 to 44 at
5,039.8 per 100,000.
The 15-24 category also accounts for 36% of all cases in Utah,
but they are only about 10% of the population.
Adams said that’s why the state is targeting college students
for testing. The concern is that young people get the virus and
then take it home to older parents or grandparents, who are more
likely to suffer serious complications and die from COVD-19.
It’s not clear, though, how Utah leaders or college
administrators will be able to enforce the required testing.
There’s already been some animosity toward public safety
requirements at BYU. At least two students withdrew
over the rules being enforced. And others started a petition
against the randomized testing being done there.
Questions remain, too, on where students would need to go to get
a test. Would they have to go to campus? And would that bring more
individuals to the university who otherwise would only be doing
their coursework online? The U., for instance, is only holding 21%
of its classes in person, with the rest either hybrid or fully
virtual.
And who will process all of the tests? The U. has an on-campus
lab. But Utah Valley University does not.
Adams said exactly how the mandate will work is still being
considered. But currently, for instance, students do have to turn
in proof that they’ve received certain vaccinations before they
can attend classes on public campuses in the state
A spokesperson for the governor’s office also said Friday that
the plan is “in discussions and we’re looking at the
details.†A representative for the Utah System of Higher
Education, which oversees the public universities and technical
colleges, noted that officials were “working on logistics.â€
Adams assured, though, the state will have enough testing
supplies. The federal government, he said, has promised to provide
one million rapid tests upfront and replenish them when they run
out (which would be in about three weeks if all college students
were tested every seven days). The results from those should be
available for students roughly 10 to 15 minutes after taking
it.
The Senate president believes the University of Utah and Weber
State University will be ready to start first.
Chris Nelson, the spokesman for the U., said Friday that he
wasn’t aware of a state mandate. But he did confirm that the
university is “looking at how we’d implement it.â€
Additionally, Michael Good, the CEO of University of Utah Health
Care and the dean of the School of Medicine, wrote
in a blog post Tuesday that the hope is to test all students at
the U. at least once before they leave campus for Thanksgiving.
Once the process gets rolling, the university would like to add
staff and faculty, too.
“We think it’s important that people know before they return
to their homes,†Good said, “whether they may be one of these
asymptomatic individuals who has a coronavirus infection.â€
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Hell on Earth — Utah Governor Orders Statewide Mask Mandate, New
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