SALT LAKE CITY — Marks are still key to protecting Utahns against COVID-19 even as some restrictions are being relaxed in Salt Lake and other counties, an infectious diseases physician with the region’s largest health care provider said Friday.
“Mask wearing, as much as we’re all tired of it, has been a very important tool,” Dr. Brandon Webb, an Intermountain Healthcare infectious diseases physician, said during a virtual news conference. “We’ve got a number of layers which, when all implemented together, have proven to be successful at decreasing transmission.”
Besides masks, those include avoiding poorly ventilated areas and social distancing from others when possible.
Thursday, Gov. Spencer Cox announced that Salt Lake, Davis and several other counties have moved from high to moderate transmission risk levels, a state designation that allows masked attendees at concerts, sporting events and other public gatherings to sit side by side.
A statewide mask mandate remains in place for all of Utah’s 29 counties. However, as vaccinations ramp up nationwide, Texas and a number of other states are already lifting mask mandates and other measures intended to protect residents against the spread of COVID-19.
Public health officials, including state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn, have said dropping restrictions “seemingly too early” puts all Americans at risk because the virus does not respect geographic boundaries and could encourage the spread of new, more deadly variants.
Webb said Utah’s shift in transmission risk levels, based on case counts, positive test rates and hospitalizations, represents “an intentional approach” to reopening the state.
“That’s the wisest course of action right now, is to do an incremental staged reopening as less and less people in the community are susceptible,” Webb said,
But the doctor said enough Utahns haven’t developed immunity to the coronavirus, either through vaccination or contracting the disease, “to give the green light on easing up on some of those restrictions.” He said Utahns should keep in mind their own circumstances even when additional activities are permitted.
“As we continue to have less restrictions during this staged reopening, I think an important piece of advice is, ‘Be wise. Be careful about your environment. Know your own risk,’” Webb said. “Remember that when one layer is not possible, you’re taking precautions with a different layer.”
That means Utahns who are someplace where they can’t distance themselves from others should wear a mask, the doctor said, while those eating in a restaurant or someplace else where they wouldn’t be wearing a mask should stay at least 6 feet away from others.
The governor also added Utahns 50 and older as well as those with additional medical conditions to the state’s vaccine eligibility list starting Monday. The new medical conditions are obesity with a body mass index of 30 or higher, down from the limit of 40 or higher, as well as chronic kidney disease and Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
Those now able to be vaccinated include Utahs with a longer list of specified medical conditions, along with Utahns 65 and older, health care workers, first responders, long-term care facility residents and staff and K-12 teachers and school staff.
Utah reports 549 new coronavirus cases and five additional deaths
The Utah Department of Health reported 549 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, along with five additional deaths from the virus. There’s been a total of 373,868 positive coronavirus cases in the state since the pandemic began a year ago.
Nearly 817,000 Utahns have received at least one dose of vaccine, a daily increase of 31,411.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests is 543 per day, and 6.601 Utahns have been tested and another 16,934 tests for the virus conducted since Thursday. The rolling seven-day average for the percent of positive tests is 4.6% when all tests are counted, and 9.8% when multiple tests by an individual within 90 days are excluded.
Currently, 203 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Utah.
The state’s death toll is at 1,970, with the five new deaths reported Friday. Those deaths, which include one that occurred before Feb. 12, are:
• A Salt Lake County man, between 65 and 84, hospitalized at time of death.
• A Cache County man, between 65 and 84, long-term care facility resident.
• A Utah County woman, between 65 and 84, long-term care facility resident.
• A Cache County woman, between 65 and 84, long-term care facility resident.
• A Weber County woman, between 65 and 84, long-term care facility resident.
This story will be updated.
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