COVID-19 pandemic in Utah
Residents stockpiled goods, large conferences were made remote-only, postponed, or cancelled; a state of emergency was declared, and some public universities and other colleges switched to online-only classes.
After the first case of community spread was found on March 14, Utah faced a shortage of testing kits, and public schools were ordered to be closed.
Community spread was confirmed in more counties, and the state issued a public health order prohibiting dine-in service in restaurants and gatherings of more than 10 people except in grocery stores.
Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Morgan, Tooele, Summit, and Wasatch counties directed people to stay at home except for essential activities.
In May 2020, the "yellow" guidelines went into effect in most of the state, advising people to continue to stay six feet away from others when outside the home and to wear face coverings when social distancing was difficult to maintain.
Sources: Utah Department of Health[1] CDC On February 27, State Epidemiologist Angela Dunn discouraged the stockpiling of toilet paper, face masks, and food and affirmed the integrity of the public water supply.
Salt Lake County ordered all restaurants to stop admitting guests inside except to pick up food for take-out.
The Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health systems announced the postponement of nonemergency surgeries and doctor appointments in preparation of a possible influx of coronavirus patients.
The state issued a public health order prohibiting dine-in service in restaurants for two weeks[27] and gatherings of more than 10 individuals, with an exception for grocery stores.
[34] On March 19, City Creek Center announced that it would close, and Salt Lake County banned gatherings of more than 10 people for 30 days.
[38] On March 23, hundreds of people gathered in a large crowd at the Salt Lake City International Airport to welcome 1,600 returning missionaries, prompting criticism from the state government.
[42] Salt Lake County Councilman Arlyn Bradshaw tested positive for the virus after showing symptoms for several days, which he later said was a case of community spread.
[57] On March 30, the University of Washington released a model projecting that Utah hospital ICU beds would soon be overwhelmed and the number of deaths would rise sharply, even assuming the continuation of strong social distancing and other measures.
[60] On April 1, Governor Herbert issued an executive order suspending enforcement of evictions until May 15 for residential tenants who were current on payments as of March 31 and suffered loss of job or wages.
[73] On April 14, the state released COVID-19 statistics on race and ethnicity, revealing that the pandemic is spreading faster among communities of color, especially among Latinos and Pacific Islanders.
[81] On April 22, the state announced that it would track residents' movements through a digital contact tracing mobile app called Healthy Together.
[82] On April 23, records surfaced revealing that the state's purchasing division had on March 31 committed to pay $800,000 to Meds in Motion, a pharmacy chain owned by Dan Richards, for an order of 20,000 doses of the malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.
The legislature was considering setting aside a total of $8 million for a drug stockpile, with officials saying that their idea is procure the medicine for 200,000 coronavirus patients and distribute it to drugstores throughout the state.
A review of medical literature, case reports, and data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers showed that some coronavirus patients are experiencing serious heart rhythm problems after taking the malaria drugs.
[93] On May 5, Intermountain Healthcare announced that it will begin blood tests to check for antibodies for COVID-19 to help add to the state's understanding of where the disease is spreading.
[114] The Utah Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called upon its members to wear face masks in public, for "[the] common purpose for the blessing and benefit of all.
"[115] On July 15, people crowded into a public meeting in Utah County to push for an exception to statewide mask requirements in schools.
[125] On August 28, the Salt Lake County health department released data showing that the workplaces that had the most workers infected were in manufacturing, retail, construction, transportation, and food and beverage service.
[144] On October 15, hospitals were quickly running out of room for critical-care patients, with cases among older people continuing to rise and flu season beginning.
[146] On November 8, Governor Gary Herbert sent a wireless emergency alert to all Utah cellphones to "Tune into local TV stations around 9:30pm".
Later in the day, Herbert issued a statewide mask mandate, paused extracurricular activities, and asked Utahns to limit gatherings to households only.
In the month of February, case and death counts declined drastically due to continued mask wearing, physical distancing, and COVID-19 vaccinations being administered.
[159] On July 27, the great majority of Utah's counties had a transmission level that fell within the CDC's new recommendation for even vaccinated people to wear indoor masks.
[162] On August 12, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement urging individuals to be vaccinated and to use face masks.
[173] The National Basketball Association suspended its 2019–20 season on March 11, after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 prior to a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
