The governor of Utah, Gary Herbert, declared late on Sunday a new state of emergency to address hospital overcrowding in response to weeks of stress due to a surge of novel coronavirus cases.
Emma Jehle reports.
Responding to overcrowding in its hospitals, the governor of Utah, Gary Herbert, declared a new state of emergency to battle a surge in COVID-19 cases.
“The number of infections in our state is growing at an alarming rate.
Our hospitals in Utah are among the best in the world but they cannot give the best care when hospitals are at capacity and medical professionals are exhausted and spread too thin and that is what is happening now.” The governor ordered a state-wide mask mandate until further notice and said casual social gatherings were being limited to household-only for the next two weeks.
All extracurricular activities were also being put on hold.
“What I have shared with you this evening is not a shutdown of our society or our economy.
We must work together to keep infections low until a vaccine is available.” The move comes as a new infection rates soar in the United States.
The Midwest remains the hardest-hit region based on the most cases per capita.
Monday morning, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced a state-wide expansion in COVID-19 testing access.
“We have reached a very dangerous phase in in the pandemic in the upper Midwest and now into Minnesota.” The total number of coronavirus infections in the United States rose past 10 million late on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally.
Utah reported over 2,000 new cases on Sunday, taking the total to 132 thousand.
Utah has had 659 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday (Nov. 9) announced his new coronavirus task force, hailed Pfizer's progress toward a COVID-19..
The governor of the U.S. state of Utah, Gary Herbert, declared late on Sunday a new state of emergency to address hospital..