alt=Ashley ImlaySALT LAKE CITY — For every person in Utah confirmed to have COVID-19, analysis suggests there are probably 5.5 others with the disease who haven’t been tested, Gov. Gary Herbert announced Tuesday as he laid out the state’s plans for battling the disease.
Meanwhile, Weber-Morgan Health Department announced its first death from the virus, bringing the state’s total to five.
The patient was a woman between the ages of 18 and 60, the health department said in a statement, and had underlying medical conditions that put her at “high risk” from the disease. She died Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19 in a long-term care facility while receiving hospice care.
“We want the family and the staff and residents at the care facility to know our heartfelt condolences,” Brian Bennion, executive director of the Weber-Morgan Health Department, said in the statement.
“We appreciate the prompt actions of the care facility to recognize and prevent further spread of the COVID-19 virus. They immediately implemented prevention measures to protect the other residents and their staff,” he said.
No other cases have been identified associated with the woman who died, according to the statement.
Eighty-two new COVID-19 cases in the state were also announced Tuesday, bringing the total to 889, according to the Utah Department of Health. A total of 73 cases so far have required hospitalization since the beginning of the outbreak.
About 2,500 more people were tested by Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total number of those tested up to 18,513.
A few health care providers have been confirmed to have COVID-19, but none of them were known to have treated COVID-19 patients, said Dr. Angela Dunn, epidemiologist with the Utah Health Department.
“And we’re still maintaining about a 5% positive rate in Utah,” Dunn said. At the state level, there isn’t evidence of many false negative or positive tests, but tests are most accurate in symptomatic people.
If the state retains that rate, it might not see as big of a surge of demand on hospital systems as expected, she said. But it remains too soon to see whether Utah is flattening the curve.
As the number of confirmed cases continues to increase, everyone with symptoms is encouraged to get tested as Utah enters what the governor calls the state’s “surge” in the battle against the virus.
The Beehive State has been able to test 4,000 people a day, with the goal of increasing it to 7,000, Herbert said during a Tuesday briefing.
As another part of the surge, Herbert appointed retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton to lead the Utah Health Department’s day-to-day efforts against the disease.
Dr. Joseph Miner, the current executive director, faces immune difficulties unrelated to COVID-19 and has needed to work from home so he doesn’t contract the disease, Herbert said.
Miner will remain executive director of the Utah Health Department.
“But we need to have a boots on the ground effort here, particularly out of our Department of Health as we take this surge in our efforts toward more and better efforts,” Herbert said.
“Gen. Burton has got a significant background not only in the military, but in disaster planning and response. So his abilities and training will make him ideal to come in and help us ramp up this surge effort,” the governor said.
Burton in a statement Tuesday afternoon called the pandemic “unlike any I have ever seen” and said he looks forward to bringing his experience with disaster recovery to support the effort.
Burton will join the state’s COVID-19 unified command, housed in the emergency operations center inside the state Capitol. Jess Anderson, commissioner of public safety, is leading the unified command, which meets every morning.
“The objectives of this unified response are these: One is health. We want to have increased testing and tracing-tracking. We will find and we will deploy (personal protective equipment) ... which we have in short supply around the country. But we’re going to find and deploy PPEs as we need them,” Herbert said.
The state currently has 27,000 masks but needs 2 million to 3 million, according to the governor, and the unified command group is working with hospitals to come up with solutions to get masks and other needed gear to health care workers and first responders.
Face masks still aren’t being recommended for the general public, Dunn said, as there isn’t evidence that they prevent a person from getting sick.
The unified command will also plan for increased pressure on hospitals, Herbert said, as well as focus efforts on minimizing impacts to the economy and communicate to all stakeholders and the public. The goal is everybody “working together in a coordinated effort if we’re going to end up winning the battle against the coronavirus.”
According to Anderson, “these are the brightest minds, those who are dealing with this” in the Department of Health, Division of Emergency Management, and other groups.
The state is expected to make a major emergency declaration Tuesday evening to President Donald Trump, which will enable Utah to get increased federal resources, according to Anderson.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill confirmed an employee in his office has tested positive for the virus but did not provide further details.
”We, like everyone else, are practicing the same safeguards as articulated by our health department and CDC in order to keep ourselves and organization as healthy as possible,” Gill said.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed Tuesday two of its deputies have tested positive for COVID-19, one on March 25 and one over the weekend. Anyone who had interacted with either of the deputies has been contacted and is being monitored, the office said in a statement. Both deputies remain quarantined, and health officials do not believe they were at work when their symptoms began.
The Davis County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed a deputy with COVID-19, who the office says is off work and recovering.
Tooele County on Tuesday issued a public health order to close nonessential businesses that serve as public gathering places including movie theaters, music venues, public playgrounds, swimming pools and salons. Salt Lake and Wasatch counties have both issued similar orders.
Central Utah reported its first coronavirus case, meaning that all health districts in Utah now have at least one confirmed case. Meanwhile, the TriCounty Health Department reported the first case in Duchesne County, the second for that area. The Central Utah and Duchesne cases were not yet reflected in the Utah Health Department’s Tuesday tally.
A breakdown of Utah COVID-19 cases by health district:
- Salt Lake County, 396 residents, 6 nonresidents
- Summit County, 172 residents, 9 nonresidents
- Davis County, 84 residents
- Utah County, 70 residents, 1 nonresident
- Wasatch County, 50 residents, 1 nonresident
- Weber-Morgan, 41 residents
- Southwest Utah, 21 residents, 5 nonresidents
- Bear River Health Department, 13 residents
- Tooele County, 12 residents
- San Juan County, 4 residents
- TriCounty Health Department, 2 residents
- Southeast Utah, 1 resident
- Central Utah, 1 resident