SALT LAKE CITY-Tuesday, Utah Governor Gary Herbert extended school closures to the end of the school year in the Beehive State, among other important announcements made during Tuesday’s briefing at the Utah State Capitol.
Herbert, in noticing that the positive tests in Utah for COVID-19 had only increased to 2,412 (+49) from Monday, a -11 decrease from Monday’s total positive cases, declared “the numbers show we are winning.”
Herbert then proceeded to thank everyone for their contributions in helping Utah combat the virus.
He confirmed he is working with surrounding states and the White House to form a plan to help stop the spread of the virus.
Herbert said he is grateful for an opportunity to work with the National Governors Association and the White House to directly negotiate for the Beehive State’s needs.
Herbert said Utah has directly worked with United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to ensure a large portion of response funding will be available to states through flexible block grants.
Herbert reiterated the need for all Utahns to wear masks when out in public.
He said federal money is coming to the Beehive State to assist in helping Utahns handle the economic impact of the virus.
On this point, he confirmed an announcement made earlier Tuesday that the state legislative session will occur Thursday to deal with the budget policy.
Herbert then confirmed that after discussions with Mark Huntsman of the Utah Board of Education and Utah Superintendent of Public Instruction Syd Dickson that school classes would not reconvene until the advent of the 2020-21 school year at the earliest.
Dickson spoke of “The New Now,” which consists of schools feeding children and the transitioning of needs for students, teacher and staff.
Graduating seniors will also need assistance in being geared toward employment or higher education, Dickson said.
Dickson confirmed, in her closing remarks, that virtual recess will occur while AP and other forms of certification testing have been postponed.
Herbert then returned to the podium to answer some questions, calling himself a “10th amendment guy,” when asked about United States president Donald Trump’s comments that he has the power to make states open up again.
Herbert again expressed optimism, saying “I’m confident we will recover.” He then cited his Utah Leads Together initiative, released last month. This consists of urgency, stabilization and recovery. With Utah’s propitious positive test case numbers, Herbert said that urgency may soon give way to stabilization.
He did say that Utah’s “new normal” may consist of people wearing masks in their favorite get-together locations once business reopens. In closing, Herbert suggested this may take up to six months or so.
In her comments, Utah state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said that the pandemic is shining a light on disparities between the white population and Latino and black populations. She said that because of their financial situations, blacks and Latinos are not able to stay home as an option in many cases despite the directive that Herbert released March 27.
She said that 28 percent of the COVID-19 cases in Utah are Latinos and that they represent 14 percent of the population in the Beehive State.
Despite the promising numbers, Dunn said it’s hard to be confident in them because the positive test rates are still at 5 percent. They are technically at 5.18 percent which represents 2,412 positive tests in 46,476 total tests.
Dunn confirmed there have been 12 hospitalizations and one additional death, bringing Utah’s state total to 19. This was an older adult male from Utah County who died while hospitalized.
Wasatch County presently has 102 total cases and 5 hospitalizations from the disease.
There will be another press briefing from the Utah coronavirus task force Wednesday.
