SALT LAKE CITY – A new nationwide health order effective March 25 will no longer make the wearing of masks mandatory in provinces with low COVID-19 transmission rates, once the state’s vaccine allocation is around four times the current level is reached.
It is now mandatory to wear masks indoors in public institutions and outdoors if social distance is not possible, but that will change in low provinces, eight weeks after Utah received 1,633,000 first vaccine doses from the federal government, enough for about 70 % of the state’s adults.
Currently, it is just under 445 000, and it is not clear when the state expects to reach the targeted amount. Gov. Spencer Cox told Democrats in the Utah legislature Tuesday that he wants to address a proposed bill that would end public health emergencies once enough Utahns have been vaccinated or had the virus.
The bill, sponsored by Representative Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, HB294, was introduced in early February but was not assigned to a committee for a hearing.
“We wanted to be really deliberate about this and really be considerate about it, and have some criteria in place so that everyone knows what we’re looking for,” Cox said during a caucus meeting of Democrats from the House and Senate.
“At some point we will cross this threshold to where everyone now has the chance to get the vaccine to protect themselves,” the governor said, reviewing the results of a new poll by Deseret News / Hinckley Institute of Politics that 80% of the state believes that the distribution of vaccines in Utah is fair.
Cox expects a steady increase in the allocation of vaccines in Utah and has lowered the age for admission to 65 years and older. On March 1, Utahns with specific medical conditions will also respond to health workers, first responders, long-term care residents and staff and K-12 teachers and school staff on the list.
Rich Saunders, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, told the Democratic caucus that there must be an end to the mask mandate.
‘If we do not know what it looks like, we do not know when we will get there. We have to be accountable for determining what we have to achieve to remove masks, ”Saunders said. “This is one of the most controversial issues of this whole pandemic.”
He said even after the threshold was reached and masks were no longer needed, it could still be worn “and we would even encourage it for a while.”
The new health order comes as the Utah Department of Health on Tuesday reported 716 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional deaths. Utah’s death toll has reached 1,865, and more than 500,000 lives have now been lost in the United States by the virus, a milestone marked by the lowering of state flags.
New guidelines as conditions change
As previously announced, there are changes to the way the transfer level is determined by the state. Utah now counts all tests an individual has taken to calculate the percentage of positive tests. Previously, only one test of each individual was counted every 90 days, resulting in a higher rate, thus lowering the acceptable range.
People will also be able to sit side by side at movie theaters, sporting events, weddings, concerts and other entertainment, as long as everyone wears masks and can testify that they have no COVID-19 symptoms or exposure. The host of the event must be able to contact the participants if anyone at the event is positive.
On occasions, masks can be removed to eat or drink, but social distance from different parties must be maintained during that time. Bars in provinces with moderate transfer levels no longer have to limit occupancy to 75%, and customers only have to wear masks if they are within 6 feet of a separate party.
For schools, the new order creates a test protocol so that school dances and other events can be offered.
The ‘Test to Play’ program for COVID-19 is now required for all high school students participating in school-sponsored extracurricular activities, and students must follow the isolation and quarantine protocols in the school manual.
The order also places a higher emphasis on personal learning instead of shifting schools to online education when certain thresholds are reached, and this is what lawmakers have been campaigning for since Trump administration officials, Dr. Robert Redfield and Dr. Deborah Birx, visited Utah last year.
Under the “Test to Stay” program, students who test positive must switch to distance education for ten days. Those who choose not to be tested may still have to give up personal learning, depending on how many students are tested and the positive test score of a school.
More information on the state transfer index is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels. Five of Utah’s 29 counties are now at a low transfer level, Daggett, Garfield, Piute, Rich and Wayne, and eight are at a moderate level.
The new order, signed by Saunders on Monday night, replaces a previous order that expired at midnight.
Later Tuesday, Cox issued a new executive order on the state’s vaccination plan, which says the state health department is eligible for consultation with the governors’ office. Thus, more Utahns can be added to the list, probably based on age, as more vaccines become available without a new order.
Warnings not to delay medical care
Doctors from both the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Healthcare also called on Utahns on Tuesday to get the medical care they need now, rather than postponing cancer examinations such as mammograms and colonoscopies, as well as other procedures due to the pandemic.
‘It’s no longer time to procrastinate. It’s time to put on a mask and come in, ‘said Dr. Jose Rodriguez, a professor of health medicine at the University of Utah, said during a virtual news conference. He said there had been some conflicting messages in the past because appointments had been canceled, but that it was now safe to visit a doctor in person.
More than 80% of the university’s doctors have been vaccinated, said Dr. Russell Vinik, chief medical officer of the University of Utah Health. The shots could not be ordered because the vaccine, which was approved for emergency use, had not yet received the full approval of the Federal Food and Drug Administration.
Vinik warned that waiting for examinations could lead to ‘bad consequences’ for patients when diseases are not detected early. The same goes for postponing children’s vaccinations, he said, because the last thing needed in the midst of a pandemic is “a new outbreak of something easily preventable, such as measles.”
Dr Kirk Knowlton, director of cardiovascular research and co-head of cardiology at the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute, said there are cases where people are even afraid to go to a hospital if they have a heart attack.
‘If they have a stroke, it is very important that they come in immediately. There have been too many stories of people who are sadly afraid that they will get COVID and wait. “Either they had a heart attack or some even died at home,” Knowlton said. “This is a real problem that we are very concerned about.”
Daily numbers
Utah reported that 11,966 vaccine doses had been administered since Monday, for a total of 623,876 first and second doses. The running average of seven days for positive tests is 779 per day, and another 6,458 Utahns were tested and 18,480 were performed.
The rolling seven days for the percentage of positive tests when all tests are counted is 6.2%, the new method used by the state to help determine the transfer level of a country, and 13.34% as just a single test which is taken by an individual over a 90. period is counted.
There were 239 people admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.
The 12 new deaths, including seven that occurred before February 1, are:
• A Salt Lake County woman over the age of 85, long-term care resident
• A man in Utah County, aged between 65 and 84, resident for long-term care
• A Cache County woman, aged 65 to 84, resident for long-term care
• A Sevier County woman over the age of 85 who was not admitted to hospital at the time of death
• A Davis County woman, aged between 65 and 84, resident for long-term care
• A Salt Lake County man, aged between 65 and 84, who was not hospitalized at the time of death
• A Weber County man, aged between 65 and 84, was admitted to hospital at the time of his death
• A Sevier County woman, aged over 85, resident for long-term care
• A Salt Lake County woman, aged between 65 and 84, was hospitalized at the time of her death
• A Salt Lake County man, aged between 65 and 84, resident for long-term care
• A Washington County man, aged between 65 and 84, resident for long-term care
• A Davis County man, aged between 45 and 64, was admitted to hospital at the time of his death
Contributing: Marjorie Cortez