Utah resident with COVID-19 attended BYU basketball game last month, university says

Interior of the Marriott Center at BYU. | Mark A. Philbrick, BYU

The risk of transmission is low, BYU said

PROVO — A Davis County resident who last week was confirmed with COVID-19 attended a BYU basketball game on Feb. 22, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed in a tweet Monday.

The Utah County Health Department reported that it is contacting people who sat within 6 feet of the resident, who is over 60 years old, to let them know of the possible exposure.

Attendance at BYU’s big upset of No. 2 Gonzaga was 18,987, but Utah County Health Department spokeswoman Aislyn Tolman-Hill said only those who sat within 6 feet of the resident are at risk, based on guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

She did not know how many ticketholders were within that radius. To her knowledge, none of those contacted so far have shown signs of symptoms.

Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox tweeted Monday afternoon that every person in that radius has been contacted.

The risk of transmission is low, Tolman-Hill said, because the person had mild symptoms that day.

“We know there were a lot of people at the game and there is a lot of concern among others who were there, but based on the CDC, they are not at risk,” Tolman-Hill said. “We have no indication that anyone else who attended the game would be at risk.”

BYU reported the news on Monday on Twitter and its website.

BYU was contacted by the Utah County Health Department to notify the university that an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 attended a basketball game in the Marriott Center on Feb. 22, 2020. 2/7

— BYU (@BYU) March 9, 2020

The Utah Department of Health told BYU the person does not represent a new case of COVID-19 coronavirus for BYU. The state had shared news about the infected person from Davis County on Friday.

The university said it had disinfected all surfaces at the Marriott Center, where the basketball game was played.

“The Marriott Center team and BYU have been extraordinarily cooperative and helpful, and they regularly clean and disinfect surfaces in the arena,” Tolman-Hill said.

The Deseret News will update this story.

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