COVID-19 Information - Originally posted September 1, 2021

I promised a constituent very early in the pandemic that I would always tell the truth about the disease. I didn’t realize at the time how important this would be. INFORMATION IS POWER, so in this post I will share what I learned today in a conference call with the governor, the state health department, and other legislators. ACTION IS POWER, TOO, so I will also share things we can do that may empower us to avoid the disease, or at least mitigate its worst effects.

This is a summary of what was said in our meeting by various participants:

- As expected, cases are rising with the return to schools, because gathering places increase transmission and children under 12 cannot be vaccinated. Pediatric transmission has a trickle effect to other populations, as we learn every year during cold and flu season.

- While very few positive cases of COVID are severe enough to warrant a hospital stay, some are, and the most severe cases, of course, require ICU beds, which are in very short supply.

- It’s important to note that not all ICU beds are occupied by COVID patients. In fact, Primary Children’s Hospital is over capacity with 37 ICU beds and 38 ICU patients, only two of whom have COVID. (I do not know if they were admitted for COVID, or if they were admitted for other conditions and also happened to have the virus.) RSV is especially rampant this year, which is part of the ICU availability problem for children.

- On Sunday, the state ran out of ICU beds. It took three hours to find an ICU bed for one patient.

- It isn’t just a matter of finding beds - every hospitalized patient needs a doctor and a nurse as well. Our labor shortage is especially critical when it comes to health care workers. If we activate more Nat’l Guard medics to assist, they will have to leave their day jobs to do so, which is problematic, because many of them work in the medical field. Health care workers have made personal sacrifices for a long time, and many of them have had to remove themselves from the frontlines.

- IHC, for example, has 4,000 openings for nurses system-wide.

- Vaccines do prevent transmission and blunt the severity of the disease. This current wave is mostly a pandemic of the unvaccinated. In August, every death under age 60 was an unvaccinated person. Of the 392 people hospitalized in August with COVID, only 42 were previously vaccinated. 38 of those 42 had serious pre-existing conditions, which made them more vulnerable to the virus.

- We heard about a patient who came to the ER and was diagnosed with COVID. He immediately left again, stating that COVID was a hoax. He died four hours later from the virus. Seek treatment early if you do experience respiratory problems. They have drugs and procedures that might save your life.

Here are some things we can do that may help us avoid the disease, blunt its severity, and bring an end to this pandemic:

1. Get vaccinated – both doses! Vaccinations are *FREE* and available just about everywhere.

2. Get your booster dose when it becomes available to you. (Some people are already receiving them.)

3. Encourage teens 12-17 to be vaccinated, too. A 14-year-old in Utah died from COVID last week, though that is very rare.

4. If you or your child develops cold-like symptoms, stay home from work and school as a precaution. You may not have COVID, but it’s a good idea to test to find out as soon as possible. Most COVID tests are free, but they usually require an appt. Self-serve testing may also be available in some locations. https://coronavirus.utah.gov/testing-locations

5. A study out of Bangladesh with proper controls showed that wearing a mask can be beneficial. Some people think it is more effective than it is, some people think it is less effective than it is (the mask debate has been incredibly devisive!), but masks did control spread about 10% more effectively than no masks.

6. You can check for real-time numbers on how many students at any school in the state have tested positive for the virus. Click on “Schools” at this link: https://coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts/ and search by school name. (See picture below) This tool will help parents understand what is happening with the virus in their child’s school.

7. In your workplace, you might consider returning to Zoom meetings for now to avoid close quarters.

8. It hasn’t been said enough (hardly at all, actually), but boosting our own immune systems with adequate rest, exercise, nutrition, vitamins, sunshine, etc. could help – not as an alternative to the vaccine, but as an extra dose of caution.

I’d like to clarify one thing: Contrary to what you may have heard, the legislature did not pass a bill banning mask mandates in schools. (I have not seen a single news outlet report this correctly!) HB1007, which was passed in special session in May, clarified the process by which a masks may be mandated. Rather than having a statewide mandate, which doesn’t make much sense in a state of Utah’s size, local health departments decide whether masks should be required in schools. Local county commissioners, elected by and, therefore, accountable to the people, approve or deny those recommendations. (Ex.: Grand County recently enacted a mask mandate in schools.) This framework allows schools to focus on educating children. It also supports local control, which is a good thing.

I know everyone would like to see this pandemic come to a close with minimal death and destruction. We are united on that, if little else. Do what you can to safeguard yourself and your loved ones. Hopefully soon we will see lasting progress on the pandemic front.

Visit the COVID-19 Information Center for vaccine resources.