COVID cases surpass one million in Utah

A variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus was found in Summit County. Photo: Courtesy of CDC

UTAH — Utah has officially passed one million covid cases throughout the pandemic, and the number will grow with a new variant on the rise.

The BA.5 COVID variant spreads fast, with over 50% of confirmed cases attributed to it. The rise in cases has seen seven Utah counties (Salt Lake, San Juan, Summit, Tooele, Wasatch, Wayne, and Piute) classified to have high COVID-19 transmission levels according to the standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the last week, there have been 7,819 new cases of COVID reported in Utah. Intermountain Health Care Doctors are keeping a close eye on the surge of cases as they have the potential to impact hospitals and healthcare resources.

“We’ve gone through many stages in the state of Utah. And you know, what’s been challenging with this pandemic is the rate of change of the virus, which then dictates us changing public health measures,” said Intermountain Healthcare’s Infectious Diseases Physician, Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, in a briefing on Thursday.

The rise in cases will be especially concerning for medical professionals with the school year approaching. When asked whether or not people should wear masks, Dr. Stenehjem said, “I think this comes down to individual risk in people at high risk for COVID. Yeah, I would wear a mask going into any kind of indoor space, especially if that indoor space is very populated with poor ventilation.”