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[Thread] 1/ Just a few thoughts on where we are headed... the latest numbers are all VERY encouraging (w one possible exception) and it means there is a real chance of opening parts of the economy much sooner than many expected!
2) An early Utah-specific projection from the National Guard had us hitting 9,600 cases, 1,200 hospital beds and 192 ICU beds this week. Instead we are at 2400/213/59. This is called flattening the curve and it shows that everything we are doing really is working.
3) Positive tests, hospitalizations, mortality rates, rate of spread are all flat or trending downward. And it is happening as 1 of 8 states without a statewide shelter-in-place. I know this has been controversial, but you have responded and sacrificed without it—and saved lives.
4) The one concerning number is that testing has significantly declined. We have more capacity than ever and yet fewer people getting tested. Maybe good—there is evidence that some decline is because there is less disease (including flu) because what we have done is working...
5) But the only way out of this is to get more people tested, especially with mild symptoms, so we can understand where the disease is and prevent it’s spread. As such, we are one of the 1st states to open testing for any of these symptoms.
6) Assuming these trends continue we can start rolling back some restrictions sooner than the 8-12 week goal we set early on. Our economic team has been working on version 2 of this plan with specific details for every industry. The private/public collaboration has been amazing!
7) That plan should be available this week (depending on input from the legislature). It will be a smart, cautious approach that still includes strong distancing/hygiene/mask measures to ensure we don’t have a spike. Business will innovate. We MUST bring back the economy.
8) Many—including my family—are disappointed by the closure of schools. My heart is broken for students, especially those seniors. We love you and would give anything to change this path. You will always remember and be remembered for this sacrifice. Let me share why it matters.
9) While we are successfully flattening the curve, we must avoid “super-spreader events” at all costs. While much economic activity can resume, large gatherings of people in closed for long times are the worst vectors. Like this funeral in Georgia: https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-hotspot-albany-georgia-funderals-covid-19-cases-per-capita-2020-4
10) Or this choir practice in Washington: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-29/coronavirus-choir-outbreak
11) Or this church service in South Korea: https://www.businessinsider.com/shincheonji-church-cult-south-korea-super-spreader-coronavirus-spike-2020-2?amp
12) We’ve even seen it here in Utah as one asymptomatic worker infected several residents of a nursing home. When the story of Utah’s response is written, I believe the closure of schools and (especially) churches is the single biggest reason our numbers haven’t exploded.
13) Unfortunately that means it will take longer for those gatherings to come back. We will have to learn to live with this virus for some time. And while a vaccine is likely more than a year away, game-changing medicines are coming...hopefully by fall. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/bet-big-on-treatments-for-coronavirus-11586102963
14) Finally, the legislature is meeting this week and we have been working closely on critical plans to help keep businesses open. Utah’s economic response must be robust and—as they control the budget—I’m grateful for legislators who understand this.
15) I’m not sure we fully understand the depth and breadth of what this virus has unleashed. There is real pain: physical, psychological, emotional, economic. Pain that is deeply personal and profoundly universal. This pandemic has changed the course of human history forever.
16) But there is nowhere in the world I would rather be than here. With you. Our history is a history of hard things. We always respond selflessly and with unity in spirit and purpose. We will rebuild and we will do it together. Godspeed Utah. #OneUtah [end]
