SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced three more counties are moving from moderate to low transmission level for COVID-19 and celebrated a record-breaking amount of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in one week.
On KSL NewsRadio’s monthly program ‘Let Me Speak to the Governor,’ Cox noted a milestone: Utah dispersed 200,000 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine in one week, despite a Johnson & Johnson shipment setback. To date, more than 1.8 million doses of the vaccine are in the arms of Utahns.
“It’s just incredible,” Cox told KSL’s Maria Shilaos.
Additionally, Kane, Millard and Washington counties are out of the orange transmission level and have shifted to green. No Utah county is categorized as “high transmission.”
Cox made it clear: just because there is not a statewide mask mandate doesn’t mean there is no use for masks.
“Wearing a mask and a mask mandate is not the same thing,” Cox said. “The message we are trying to send is 20-30 people still being hospitalized every day.”
“But we are seeing less deaths,” he said, contributing the decline in COVID-19 related deaths to the state’s most vulnerable populations getting fully inoculated.
Although masks aren’t mandated, he said not everyone is getting rid of their masks right away. Businesses can decide to enforce the use of masks, and residents may be more comfortable wearing them until vaccination rates increase, Cox explained.
Additionally, Cox said he would not lift mask requirement in schools due to students being in close quarters for prolonged periods of time.
The phone lines are open for you to speak with the governor. Give us a call at 801-575-8255 or send us a text with your question to 57500.