As Utah’s rolling average continues to drop, Utah’s governor urges residents to work even harder to help with the decrease.
“I’d like to in fact set a new goal. That would be to have us have our cases below 400 by September the first and having a rolling seven day average of 400 cases or less by September. If we all work together, we can do this. We need to do it," Gov. Gary Herbert said.
This new goal from Herbert comes after the goal he set in July for a rolling 7-day average of 500 cases was met at the beginning of the month. The state’s current rolling average is 449 cases a day, however it’s important to note that overall testing numbers are down in the state and it is not clear why.
During Thursday’s press conference Herbert announced that local government officials can implement mask mandates for their jurisdiction without asking for state permission, although they do need to notify him.
Although Herbert said approximately 70% of Utahns are wearing masks, he urged residents to keep working together for safety despite the politicization of masks.
Many schools in Utah are still working on the details of how they will resume learning later this month and education advisor Tami Pyfer said Utahns need to communicate with their local school officials.
“There is no one size fits all educational approach when it comes to reopening our schools across the state. Context matters in each one of our communities," she said.
The state’s distribution center will be putting together a supply of personal protective equipment for each school district. They are suspected to be able to support approximately 28,000 teachers and 16,000 staff members.
