The stabilization phase of the Utah Leads Together 2.0 plan went into effect at midnight.
Governor Herbert outlined some of the changes as the state moves into the stabilization phase of the pandemic, color coded as orange.
“You can begin to once again gather in small groups of up to 20, with family and friends,” Herbert explained. “We would hope that those family friends practice appropriate protocols. That they don’t have fevers, they don’t have symptoms as they gather with your group. establishments that have been closed in the past by public health orders including gyms, salons, other personal care establishments, bars are permitted to resume operations under strict guidelines. If you have any questions about that please contact your local health Department. They’ll help guide you through the plans and the protocols.”
Additionally, patrons can now dine inside of restaurants that follow appropriate protocol. Travel is also expanded although Herbert advises Utahns to be careful where they go and what they do while traveling locally. Vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and immunocompromised will remain at high-risk.
State epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn says in order to avoid a surge in cases they’re relying on all Utahns to take responsibility and listen to the guidelines in the Utah Leads Together 2.0 plan
“Continue to adhere to social distancing practices when they're able to, wear a mask when social distancing is not possible,” Dunn said. “Continuing good hand hygiene, staying home if you can, and definitely staying home if you are ill. These will ensure that we can continue to reopen parts of society and also prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Utah.”
Dr. Dunn says they’re able to make the move to stabilization in part because of increased capacity to administer tests and conduct contact tracing.
Governor Herbert says they’re not overly concerned that Utahn’s will misread Friday’s change as a return to life pre-COVID.
“I see what we've done these last two months, with everybody collaborating and working together and following good direction,” Herbert continued. “I think people understand for their own best interest, for their loved ones and friends and people that they don't know about, they still do care about. I think people are willing to do the right thing in the right way. But we will in fact monitor the data and we're going to watch closely. We think there's a couple of areas that might have some hot spot possibilities. We would hope that the local communities will address those issues, we’ll work with them very closely because we want to go from red to orange not have to go from orange to red. If that is required, we will do that, but we'll try to do that in a very targeted way.”
Governor Herbert also indicated that some parts of the state with little impact may even move to the yellow phase within another two weeks.
