Coronavirus cases in Utah increased by nearly 4,000 Thursday

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Utah reported a record 3,919 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, with record hospitalizations and the virus’s deadliest week since the start of the pandemic.

Between 4.5% and 5% of those cases will end up in hospital, Governor Gary Herbert said at a press conference Thursday. “These numbers should be alarming for all of us,” he said, warning that state hospitals could be overwhelmed if the number of cases does not drop.

The state’s previous record for the number of daily cases was 2,987, reported on November 6.

Over the past week, the state averaged 2,738 new positive test results per day, continuing a string of new records, the Utah Department of Health reported. The record number of cases, Herbert said, “should get us all to take stock and consider what we are doing individually to slow this situation down.”

Herbert added that he hopes a vaccine will be available in Utah within four or five weeks, and “certainly by the first of the year.” The first doses, he said, would be for first responders, healthcare workers and people in high-risk groups.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Utah was 687 on Thursday, with nine deaths reported since Wednesday:

Hospitalizations continued to rise on Thursday, with 468 Utah patients admitted simultaneously, UDOH reported – another record. More than 650 Utahns have been hospitalized in the past week, including 6,487 since the start of the pandemic.

Greg Bell, president of the Utah Hospital Association, said hospitals in the state were well within their “emergency care” protocols. “We have expanded all of our resources,” said Bell – including diverting patients to hospitals with lighter loads, creating additional intensive care units and bringing in medical staff from other disciplines.

Utah’s ICU staff exceed the 85% capacity that hospitals consider “effectively full,” Bell said – and some hospitals are at 100% critical care capacity.

“There are limits to what our staff can handle, and limits to what our current bed configuration can support,” said Dr. Katie Thomas, associate medical director at Intermountain Medical Center, which has opened overflow intensive care beds, as have LDS Hospital, University of Utah Hospital and Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George.

The Children’s Primary Hospital has started caring for adult patients in its intensive care unit, and Riverton Hospital has opened its pediatric floor to non-ICU adult patients, Thomas added. Sandy’s Alta View Hospital has opened more non-ICU beds, and Intermountain’s Orthopedic Specialty Center in Murray provides regular inpatient care to absorb some overflow.

Now, Intermountain Healthcare has brought in 190 “traveling nurses” from out of state, and 31 other nurses from New York are taking two-week shifts, reimbursing the visit of approximately 100 Intermountain doctors and nurses. in New York City hospitals when cases peaked in April.

“In April in New York, there were days of absolute exhaustion and stress,” said Natalie Torrance, a nurse at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “It was such a relief knowing we only had a few extra pairs of hands. Now it’s our turn to return the favor. “

Over the past week, 23.2% of all coronavirus tests in Utah came back positive – a record rate that indicates that large numbers of those infected are not tested, officials said. State.

There were 13,926 new test results reported on Thursday, a single-day high.

Herbert stressed that the guidelines that support his emergency orders announced on Sunday are being developed by public health experts. “We ask people to wear masks, certainly when you can’t get away socially,” Herbert said.

The orders include a statewide order for masks, limit social gatherings to people in the same households, and suspend all extracurricular activities at the school, including most sporting and intramural events.

The strongest spread of the virus, Herbert said, occurs in “our occasional social gatherings.” Herbert reiterated that his emergency order called on Utahns to limit their social gatherings to people in their immediate household by November 23.

“It’s going to take a couple of weeks to see if what we’re putting in is going to have an effect,” Herbert said. “If we are all invested and all do our part, we can… slow the spread.”

Whether on purpose or as part of a government mandate, “it will be behavior modification that will bring us under control of this pandemic,” Herbert said.

The two weeks for the order are based on the incubation period of the virus, Herbert said. Part of the reason for the ordering was for that two-week period to be before the Thanksgiving holiday, he said.

“We are seeing changes in behavior. The question is: is it enough? I guess we’ll have to wait and see, ”Herbert said.

Local law enforcement officials refusing to enforce the emergency order – as the Iron County sheriff put it – “are certainly mitigating the impact” of the order, “Herbert said.” the order are supposed to be there to enforce the laws. They obviously don’t create, it’s not their prerogative. “

Iron County was one of 20 counties that reported a record number of cases in the past two weeks – and those counties represent 98% of the state’s population.

One-day increases in cases set records in several local health districts, the most extreme increases in districts of central Utah and southwestern Utah, and Wasatch and Southwestern Utah counties. Utah. Case rates remained highest in northern Orem, where more than one in 50 people has been infected in the past two weeks.

Herbert said he and health experts were discussing recommendations for families for Thanksgiving celebrations. People should weigh the risks of traveling and gathering in large groups, he said.

“We want people to have fun vacations, but we also want people to have fun and safe vacations,” Herbert said.

In the next two weeks, Herbert said, he hopes the state will increase the number of tests – especially on college campuses – from 100,000 to 250,000 per week.

Decisions to close schools to face-to-face lessons are made locally, he said. “Global, [online teaching is] probably not as effective in learning as being in class with the teacher, ”said Herbert.

The order is also putting a hiatus on extracurricular activities in state schools, Herbert reiterated.

But during the high school football playoffs, noted state epidemiologist Dr Angela Dunn, the state’s health department had every athlete, cheerleader and contestant tested for COVID. Only 49 people were found to be positive, she said – a rate of just 3.6%.

Dunn said she sees this as a sign that high school students are following COVID-19 protocols because they care so passionately about what they do. “We all have to start acting like high school athletes,” Dunn said.