Governor Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson addressed the Utah covid disaster on Friday and introduced a state plan to transition right into a “regular state mannequin”.
The transfer means Utah will quickly be a part of the rising record of states transitioning away from treating the coronavirus pandemic as a public well being disaster and as a substitute shift to a coverage centered on prevention, Cox mentioned throughout a press convention.
Vaccines are nonetheless extremely inspired, and the vaccine administration will proceed based on Henderson nevertheless the give attention to testing websites will reduce as Utah strikes towards a much less covid centered future.
“I feel it is necessary for all of us to reset our thoughts about how we will take a look at issues as we go ahead as a result of issues are altering,” mentioned Dr. Michelle Hoffman from the Utah Division of Well being. “Not solely are circumstances happening, however how we’re capturing circumstances has actually modified. And so, we have to take a look at it another way.”
The state will preserve its contracts with vaccine and testing distributors in case there may be one other surge in circumstances. The Utah Division of Well being will in the reduction of on covid reporting and return to weekly updates on numbers as a substitute of each day.
“I feel it is necessary to notice that once more, we’ve to have the ability to ramp down and that is what we’re doing. And I wish to simply reemphasize that is we’re trending in direction of March 31, the tip of March. So, this can be a six-week ramp down,” Cox mentioned.
Utah’s deliberate shift parallels actions deliberate in different states together with California, the place Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced Thursday that the state would undertake an “endemic” strategy to the coronavirus as a part of an try and return to normalcy.
However in contrast to California, the place masks and capability caps have remained in impact in lots of areas, Utah’s transition could have much less tangible impacts on residents and primarily pertain to how the state communicates details about the pandemic and its position in facilitating testing and vaccinations.
“We began this part a very long time in the past, in shifting into a private danger mannequin and having individuals make these particular person decisions — whether or not they wish to put on masks or whether or not they’re getting the vaccine — and hopefully they’re getting the vaccine. We’ve actually made that transition earlier than another states,” Cox mentioned.
With extensively obtainable instruments like at-home checks, antiviral capsules and wastewater surveillance to search out proof of coronavirus, Cox and well being officers are assured that Utah can preserve case counts and hospitalizations at manageable ranges and monitor for brand spanking new variants and outbreaks.
Cox mentioned the recognition of at-home checks made positivity charges a much less helpful metric to gauge how prevalent the virus was in communities as a result of most at-home outcomes usually are not reported to state officers. In Utah, the positivity price, as measured utilizing a. seven-day common, was 27% on Feb. 11, the final time the state up to date its knowledge.
Utah has reported 21,764 newly confirmed COVID-19 an infection circumstances during the last two weeks, or 688 circumstances per 100,000 states residents, which ranks it twenty fifth out of the 50 states.
In emergency rooms, 5% of sufferers have been identified with the virus on Feb. 15, as measured utilizing a seven-day common. Deaths and hospitalizations have additionally fallen since a mid-January spike, based on state well being division knowledge.
Cox mentioned he hopes Utah will develop into extra unified after this shift.
“I hope that greater than anything that we will transfer on from the deeply divided, politicization that we have been going through, that we will have a possibility to return collectively as fellow Utahns and that we will heal a few of these divides that we will present our love for, for our fellow residents, and that we will proceed to make your time unbelievable place for everybody who lives right here,” Cox mentioned.
The Related Press contributed to this story.
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