MURRAY: Utah is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 in the country with the fourth highest rate of new cases, according to state health data.
An Intermountain Healthcare doctor said Utah is still seeing results from the holiday hike.
“We have the highest risk of getting COVID, higher than ever,” said Dr. Todd Vento, an infectious disease doctor at Intermountain Healthcare. “So we have to make a commitment to finish this race.”
Currently, the virus is as infectious in the hive state as ever, Vento said, regardless of the precautions Utahns have already been taking. That’s why he said we need to bend against complacency and pandemic fatigue.
“Our conclusion from that would be that it’s the right time for a post-holiday wave,” Vento said.
He said that if you meet different people every day and don’t wear a mask indoors in unventilated areas, the risk is even greater.
With an average of 3,100 new cases a day and a positivity rate of more than 30%, Utah on Monday had the fourth highest rate of new cases in the nation. The number of cases per population has almost doubled in the last ten days.
“The next few weeks will be even more worrying because we haven’t seen all hospitalizations increase for this case,” Vento said.
The CDC believes that 60% of COVID-19 transmission occurs by asymptomatic individuals.
“So it’s even more of a problem when you plan to get together, for example, for a week, two weeks during the holidays, during the New Year holidays,” Vento said.
The doctor said we will not start seeing the positive impact of the vaccine on our cases for months.
“It will probably get worse in terms of numbers,” Vento said. “So it’s even more important that we all recommend in 2021 to make public health preventative measures work.”
He therefore encouraged everyone to make these practices a part of the New Year’s resolution.
“So if you leave home and put on clothes, you have to think you’re naked if you don’t have a mask.”
Masking, distancing oneself socially and limiting meetings with people who do not live in our home are as important as ever at this time, ”he said.
So if you leave home and put on clothes, you should think you’re naked if you don’t have a mask.
–Dr. Todd Vento, an infectious disease doctor at Intermountain Healthcare
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Jed Boal