Along with Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s new statewide mandates in response to COVID, the Southeast Utah Health Department announced 24 new cases of the virus on Sunday evening. These include 13 in Grand County, eight in Carbon County and three in Emery County.
On Sunday evening, Gov. Herbert announced a new state of emergency for Utah in response to a case surge and overcrowded hospitals. The Governor outlined four mandates: 1. a statewide mask mandate in public settings where six feet of physical distancing is not possible; 2. limiting casual social gatherings to household-only; 3. a two-week hold on all extracurricular activities, including athletic and intramural events; 4. mandatory weekly COVID-19 testing for all higher-education students in public and private institutions who either live on campus or attend at least one in-person class per week beginning no later than Jan. 1.
Since testing began, over 16,848 COVID-19 tests have been administered throughout Carbon, Emery and Grand counties with 726 positive test results and 181 active cases. Nine patients are currently hospitalized due to the virus. With the rise in cases, Carbon, Emery and Grand counties remain in the High Transmission Level.
In Carbon County, 388 patients have tested positive for COVID-19. Of these, 105 cases remain active while 281 have recovered. Seven Carbon County patients are currently hospitalized due to the virus while 12 others were formerly hospitalized. The two deaths in the county include Carbon County men in the 65-84 age range that had been hospitalized.
Emery County has recorded 170 cases of COVID-19, 45 of which remain active as 122 patients have recovered. One Emery County patient is currently hospitalized due to the virus while 11 others were formerly hospitalized. There have been three deaths within the county, including two Emery County men in the 65-84 age range and one Emery County woman in the 45-64 age range.
In Grand County, 168 patients have tested positive for the virus. Of these, 31 cases remain active as 136 have recovered. One Grand County patients is currently hospitalized due to the virus while two others were formerly hospitalized. The lone death in the county was a Grand County man over the age of 85.
The age group with the most cases in the region is the 25-44 age group, which accounts for 32.92% of the total cases. The 44-64 age group comes in at 26.45% while the 15-24 group accounts for 21.49%. The remaining age groups, in descending order by percentage, are as follows: 65-84 (11.57%), 1-14 (6.06%), 85+ (1.24%) and 0-1 (.28%).
As part of the total case count, the Southeast Utah Health Department also tracks cases involving students, teachers and staff at local schools as well as the university. Carbon School District has recorded 32 cases of the virus, 10 of which remain active as 22 have recovered. USU Eastern has tallied 11 cases, one of which remains active as 10 have recovered.
In the Emery School District, there have been 29 cases of the virus, 15of which remain active as 14 have recovered. In the Grand School District, there have been 15 cases, all of which have recovered. There have been no confirmed cases involving students or staff at Pinnacle Canyon Academy or Moab Charter School.
For case breakdowns, see the graphs below. For an interactive map that outlines case numbers by zip code, visit the Southeast Utah Health Department’s website.
