Notes from Corona Virus Conference Call Tonight
Notes taken during the House Majority Caucus conference call this evening:
- One of the governor’s top advisors spoke to us about the coronavirus in Utah. She likened the virus to an iceberg with only 10% of it above the waterline (known and diagnosed cases.) If we can identify people who have the virus but do not know they have it (through better tracing and broader testing), we'll be in a better position to prevent the spread of the disease.
- There are four key metrics that will help measure our progress:
1. The number of new daily hospital admissions. (This number is used to reverse-calculate, since we know 3% of people with the virus require hospitalization.)
2. Hospital capacity, especially ICU beds.
3. Effective detection by tracing exposure of people who’ve tested positive.
4. Increased testing of people who may have been exposed to the virus (Goal: 7,000 tests/day)
- We will be receiving local data by next week showing where the virus is known to exist in the state.
- The House has an efficient means of collecting policy ideas and getting them before the task force, so if you have ideas for new or improved ways to address the virus (reducing the transmission rate, supporting impacted businesses, etc.), please pass them along to a legislator.
- The Legislature will be called into special session sometime soon to take care of budget issues and facilitate the transition from the urgent phase to the stabilization phase. We may need to have a few of these sessions before we go into general session again next year.
- The special session will be announced in advance and streamed for the public. (And we will be meeting remotely to prevent spreading the virus to the four corners of the state!)
I wouldn’t want to go through the coronavirus crisis in any other state or with any other group of people. Thank you for observing all of the protocols (physically distancing, hand washing, etc.) to stay healthy and expedite a resolution!
Be safe and well,
Cheryl
