One year ago today, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The toll of this disease and the continued loss of life around the world and in our nation is heartbreaking. To so many of you who have felt the pain and loss of a loved one during this pandemic – you have suffered the ultimate loss, and we grieve with you.

After a year of this fight, we are tired, we are lonely, we are impatient. There have been too many missed family gatherings, too many lost milestones and opportunities, too many sacrifices. And still, through it all, there is determination; there are stories of giving and hope, of stamina and perseverance.  We are better together, and together, we will endure.

The vaccination of millions every day gives me hope. Hope that we can beat this pandemic. And hope that we can get back to being with our family, friends, and community. And soon.

Earlier this week, CDC released our first evidence-based guidance for fully vaccinated people. These new recommendations are a first step in our process of returning to everyday activities – safely spending time with family and friends, hugging our grandparents and grandchildren, and celebrating birthdays and holidays.

While we accumulate more evidence to support the safe return to everyday activities, please continue taking precautions in public and when around people who are at high risk for severe COVID-19 disease. Whether you are already vaccinated or not yet vaccinated, wear a well-fitted mask, practice physical distancing, wash your hands often, avoid medium and large gatherings, and avoid travel. We know these measures work to prevent the spread of this virus and help protect each other. 

This pandemic will end. And, our public health work will continue. Through the near-blinding spotlight of this crisis, we now clearly see what we should have addressed before– the long-standing inequities that prevent us from achieving optimal health for all. We see the impact of years of neglect of our public health infrastructure. We see the critical need for data that move faster than disease, to prevent rather than react. To move past this pandemic, we must resolutely face these challenges head on and fully embrace the innovations, the new partnerships, and the resilience of our communities that have emerged from this crisis. It is the only way we can turn tragedy and sorrow into lasting progress and improved health for all.

In one year, we have lost over 520,000 Americans to COVID-19. These are grandparents, parents, and children. They are siblings, friends, and neighbors. They are our loved ones and our community. We join together to grieve these losses and intensify our efforts so they were not in vain. I thank you for your perseverance and for your unity of mission. Together, our strength and hope will guide us to the end of this pandemic.

Utah COVID-19 Response

In Utah, the COVID-19 response began early. By mid-March, Governor Herbert had already created the COVID-19 Community Task Force to monitor the situation. That task force was led by then Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox and included members from the Utah Department of Health, Utah Department of Public Safety, Utah Division of Emergency Management and others. Governor Herbert declared a state of emergency on March 6, 2020.

As part of that initial response, the state launched coronavirus-stage.at.utah.gov. Since March 2020, there have been over 49,000,000 hits to our website, amounting to approximately 9,000,000 unique visitors. The most visited page on the site is our case counts dashboard. The case counts dashboard represents the UDOH’s commitment to be transparent about the COVID-19 situation in Utah. The dashboard has grown over the past year to include demographic information, outbreak information and vaccine information.

Utah COVID-19 Response Storymap

A storymap outlining Utah’s COVID-19 response has been created. You can explore it here.

Our public health response to this COVID-19 pandemic has been stronger than any similar disease response in generations. If you study the pandemic from 1918, you’ll see that we are taking many of the same measures. We have encouraged mask wearing and social distancing. We have limited the way people gather. 

Today, state leaders rolled out a new data dashboard, one that visualizes how the state will measure its progress toward strong public health and a strong economy.

The Unified Response Scoreboard champions two major goals. On the public health side, we are aiming for a case-fatality ratio of less than 1%.

We’re also actively monitoring the 7-day rolling average number of cases per day, as well as ICU utilization, and metrics regarding long term care facilities and outbreak containment efforts. 

For economic recovery, we are striving to maintain or even lower the unemployment rate of 4.5% between now and the end of this calendar year. These goals are supplemented with tracking job placements. We want to increase job placements resulting in 50,000 or fewer filing weekly unemployment weekly claims by end of the year.

These metrics will be even more important to track as we move into fall and winter because a new school year, flu season and winter colds. Working the whole community, the state has created an enhanced accountability framework and new tools to drive results. 

This framework is completely transparent so the public not only has full information, but so the public can be part of the solution.

Utah has been under a state of emergency for the pandemic since March 6, 2020.

A state of emergency is a legal status in state code for the operations of state government that allow state government the flexibility it needs to respond to an emergency situation. 

Part of that flexibility could include the following:

• Reissuing short-term executive orders.
• Various purchases under emergency procurement.
• Using the Utah National Guard.

Some have said Utah has issued too many orders this year. Most of those executive orders are updates to prior orders issued by the governor. See the list of executive orders at rules.utah.gov.

Some have also said emergency powers were never designed to be used for months at a time. The statutes that authorize the Governor to declare a state of emergency specifically include epidemics. Epidemics and pandemics are not short-lived. So it’s clear that state statute expects that if there’s an epidemic, a state of emergency could be in place for long periods of time.

Most of the time, state government doesn’t need to use the emergency powers. They exist in state statute for special times, such as the time we’re living in now —  in the midst of a pandemic with no end in sight.

• People in Utah continue to die from COVID-19.
• Though case counts are declining, the disease continues to spread. It is not contained. 
• Populations are still disproportionately affected by COVID-19, namely our Hispanic, American Indian and Pacific Islander communities. 
• We need to protect our hospital systems.
• We need to maintain a stockpile of PPE in case of future surges of the disease. 
• We’re just starting the school year, which will be the largest continuous congregation of people since March. We need to be ready to respond to outbreaks in the school setting. 

We are not out of the woods yet. 

All states in the United States and the federal government are operating under a state of emergency. 

The very nature of a pandemic is a situation that is fluid and requires constant adaptation based on new information. Every day, we learn more information about COVID-19, the way it impacts different populations, the ways to best stop its spread, what is working in other countries and other states, and how we can mitigate economic impacts. 

In addition, there are a number of programs the state could potentially lose access to if we don’t have a state of emergency in place: 

• FEMA’s public assistance grants: Without a state of emergency in place, Utah government entities would not have access to more than $95 million. Hospitals would not be able to access $19 million in federal reimbursements.
• FEMA’s individual assistance grants: The Utah Department of Workforce Services is requesting $445 million in the federal share of Lost Wages Assistance.
• Small Business Administration loans for economic injury: So far, Utah has received over $5.2 billion under the Paycheck Protection Program and $1.2 billion in Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
• Federal Title 32 cost share for the Utah National Guard: So far, the federal share of National Guard costs have been about $10 million.
• State Disaster Recovery Restricted Account: It’s one of our rainy day funds that help maintain state agency budgets through emergency work and purchases.

We are still very much in an emergency situation, and all the work going on will ensure we have the best chance of economic recovery and the best chance of slowing the spread of the pandemic. We’re here to protect lives and livelihoods. 

That’s 250,000 masks and 100,000 face shields. The Unified Command’s supply group had brainstormed ways to support the reopening plans and determined they can make a one-time push of KN95 masks and clear face shields available to all teachers, staff and bus drivers in the state. 

The state’s distribution center will put together this one-time PPE push pack for every school district to provide a buffer while districts work on securing their own PPE. The pack will include 5 KN95 masks and 2 face shields for every teacher and faculty member. We anticipate supporting approx 28,000 teachers and 16,000 staff.

All PPE push packs left the warehouse on Friday, August 7, bound for districts throughout the state. Counties will determine how they want to distribute the PPE to the districts and charter schools, which we expect will happen in the coming week.

To help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, cloth masks are already required for students, educators, staff, and visitors at our schools. We know masks can limit up to 90% of droplets that can leave our mouths when we talk, laugh, and cough or sneeze.

Wearing a mask is an integral component of returning to school safely. Find more tips and recommendations in the COVID-19 School Manual.