On Monday, Utah reported another 2241 COVID-19 cases. The state now stands at 217,000 cases and 949 deaths. Utah House Minority Leader Democrat Brian King says the state leadership can and should manage the rampant transmission rate.
House Minority leader Brian King represents mostly the Salt Lake area with a small sliver of the west side of Park City. He acknowledges that lame-duck governor Gary Herbert has taken a more robust role in mandating masks and limiting gatherings than some other conservative leaders in red states. King doesn’t think there will be further action taken by Herbert before he leaves office for good. He says the efficacy of masks and social distancing is indisputable, and he doesn’t understand why the leadership would not put law enforcement behind COVID-19 prevention practices.
"The Governor is the leader of the state, and he sets the tone, and certainly it is a big part of messaging. But there are some things you can do by way of the executive order to encourage and make available resources of the state to the extent that he has them under his control from a public health perspective, to assist counties and municipalities in putting in place the force of law in a way that will, I think, more likely change people's behavior."
King recognizes COVID-19 is not considered as lethal as some other illnesses, and he realizes that some people, irrespective of the law, will roll through stop signs or run red lights.
“But, when you have a death rate of one or two percent, which is what this is, that's the hundreds of thousands of people across the country and it’s thousands of Utahn’s. It will be thousands of Utahn’s. In the end, I think that that's a serious enough issue from a public health perspective that we're very well warranted in putting in place some legal requirements that carry with them some possibility of punishment.”
Public health officials are anticipating a surge in cases after the Thanksgiving holiday. King thinks the medical system's impact is tremendous and, even without the surge that is coming, is wondering why Utah's political leaders aren't doing more to prevent a healthcare crisis.
“Well, some would say that we are already at that point where we're rationing to significant groups. Where people who are in need of ICU and essential services at the hospital are not able to get it. Where people who would otherwise go to the hospital or not going to the hospital because they believe that there's no room for them there. That's always been the line that I've heard from many of the Republicans and conservatives in the state who are running the legislature and executive branches. The thing that we really have to be worried about is overriding our health care system. That should be the thing to avoid at all costs. But we've now reached that point and or. where are reaching it soon.”
King says that last spring when Summit County was identified as a hotspot, the public health mandates kept the community spread in control.
“County officials took quick action to get a handle on this to make sure that it did not spread to an undue degree and you were successful in knocking it down. And since then some it has not been nearly the problem that some of the other parts of the state have had. And it's largely because I think that public health officials and just the residents and the citizens of Summit County and Wasatch County were responsible to a much greater degree than some of the other parts of the state.”
King says in the states where the virus is considered a hoax and mask-wearing is rejected, they’re experiencing more virus impact.
“Those are the states that as time goes on see the worst numbers. I mean take for example the difference between Utah and Oregon. Oregon has more people in it than Utah and they have significantly lower rates of infection and significantly lower deaths and it's because they've taken much more seriously the obligations of people acting responsibly, to socially distance and mask, and not gather in large groups, things like that."
As COVID-19 cases surged earlier this fall, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued a statewide mask mandate to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The mandate requires everyone to wear a mask in public and maintain 6-feet distances.
