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COVID-19 Restrictions In Utah Terminated As State Sees Low Case Count

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

During his Thursday COVID-19 briefing, Gov. Spencer Cox announced Utah has met the metrics of bill H.B. 294 which terminates many of the restrictions the state implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

“All of that is great news for the people of the state of Utah," Cox said. "It means our case counts are down, it means that our hospitalization and ICU specifically, utilization is down. And most importantly, it means that our vaccination numbers continue to grow.”

Gov. Cox announced the state has met the metrics of bill H.B 294 earlier than expected at a weekly COVID-19 briefing. This means all restrictions due to COVID-19 have been lifted. 

Cox said children in schools will continue wearing masks until the end of the year, and businesses may still implement restrictions as case counts continue to come down.

 

As of Thursday, 2.2 million doses had been administered, and Gov. Cox said it is expected one million Utahns will be fully vaccinated by Friday. 

 

 “I know many of us didn’t expect to see that day, especially this early in May, but we appreciate Utahns who have stepped up and gotten those vaccines," he said.

 

Cox was joined by Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson who says equity efforts are making progress, although there is still more work to do.

 

For state epidemiologist, Angela Dunn, it was her last time attending the weekly briefing. Both Gov. Cox and Lt. Gov. Henderson expressed their appreciation for Dunn, as she begins her new job as the executive director of the Salt Lake County Health Department in July.

 

As of Thursday, Utah had an average case count of 343 new cases which is the lowest it has been since June.