Utah Gov. Gary Herbert declared a state of emergency late Sunday night, introducing new coronavirus restrictions in an effort to slow the rapidly accelerating spread of the virus and ease the burden on hospitals.
“The situation is dire and unsustainable,” the state said in the announcement. “We must take action now to protect our hospitals and healthcare workers and to avoid further devastation on our families, communities, and businesses.”
Utah reported 2,383 cases on Sunday. The state has reported over 2,000 cases every day since Nov. 3, more than double the summer peak of 875 in July. Hospitalizations related to the coronavirus have nearly doubled since July, and deaths related to COVID-19 are creeping past summer highs, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard. Overall, the state has reported more than 132,000 cases since the pandemic began.
“To make a real difference in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and turning around the dire situation in our hospitals, we all need to do more,” Herbert said in a statement. “That’s why we are restricting casual social gatherings for the next two weeks. This means many of us may have to cancel plans with extended family and friends. This is a sacrifice for all of us. But as we slow the spread it will make all the difference for our overworked healthcare workers, who desperately need our help.”
New executive orders, including a statewide mask mandate, were announced in conjunction with the state of emergency. They are effective Monday and will remain in effect until Nov. 23.
“You must wear a face mask indoors and outdoors anytime you are within 6 feet of anyone from another household,” the announcement said. “This means you must wear a face mask anytime you are around people you don’t live with.”
The announcement told Utahans to “cancel plans with extended family and friends for the next two weeks” and recommended teleworking if possible. It noted that businesses will not be shut down as a result of the new state of emergency but said people should only go out to eat with people they live with. Bars must also close at 10 p.m.
The order suspended all extracurricular activities except for intercollegiate sporting events, which already require regular testing and other precautions, and mandated college students who live on campus or attend at least one in-person class per week must be tested for COVID-19 every week. “Testing is encouraged to begin as soon as possible, but must be implemented by the beginning of spring semester,” the announcement read.
The state will activate more of the National Guard to “assist in contact tracing, and rollout an accelerated testing program for asymptomatic individuals” to support the new school testing mandates.
“There was a lot we didn’t know at the start of the pandemic,” Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said. “Now we know better what we are up against, and we know more about how to fight it. We know masks work. We know limiting gatherings and maintaining distance from each other works. Our dedicated medical professionals are learning more about which therapeutics work to combat the disease. I am confident that we can beat this, but only if each of us does more.”
