Wasatch County Council heard some good news regarding available amenities in the county on Friday evening. Despite the news officials are still urging the public to continue to follow the ‘Stay at Home’ order especially with spring break starting on Monday.
At the Governor’s press conference earlier on Friday it was reported that should projections hold the state should have adequate Intensive Care Unit beds and ventilators for the high point of COVID-19 in Utah. The state is short on personal protective equipment such as face masks, face shields and gowns, but expect more ordered materials to arrive in the coming weeks. At the Friday evening Wasatch County Council meeting Heber Valley Hospital Administrator Si Hutt pointed out that if social distancing continues the state and the county should have adequate supplies.
“We're ramping up production for ventilators,” Hutt explained. “The longer we're able to push out that spike—hopefully it's long enough that that spike doesn't go high that it really does flatten the curve—to where we have the resources that we currently have are enough. But the longer we push that out, the more resources there are going to be available.”
Hutt adds that they don’t share the numbers of equipment the hospital has. He says they do have access to ventilators, but the Heber Valley Hospital does not have ICU beds.
“The admissions of individuals that we would be receiving at our local hospital are those that are more stable and will likely not need to be transferred to go to an intensive care unit,” Hutt continued. “Those who are likely to need an intensive care unit when we assess them in the Emergency Department, we would go ahead and transfer to a facility that has an ICU immediately.”
Hutt also reported that residents can now get an in-vehicle COVID-19 test at the Heber Valley Hospital.
“It's going to be easiest to get in if you come in through 1500 South,” Hutt said. “There's a tent on the corner where you would pull into where the Instacare is and that's where they'll do the screening questions. Everybody stays in their car, that keeps that social distancing. If in the screening questions you really don't need to be tested, than you just head on down the road. If you do need to be tested then you would turn in by the Instacare, we have a tent set up there. Again, the individual would stay right in their car and we’ll come out and do that testing.”
Wasatch County School District week-long spring break begins on Monday April 6, Council member Kendall Crittenden added the reminder that people should not be traveling into or out of Wasatch County for leisure.
“People need to stay home,” Crittenden explained. “So I hope statewide people will listen to the governor and understand the importance of that. Unfortunately, you know we just maybe can't take a spring break vacation this year.”
While the news of available supplies is good, County Council Chair Danny Goode reminded the public to keep following the ‘Stay at Home’ order.
“Thank you very much everyone for trying to follow the social distancing and all the things that we've been asking,” Goode continued. “But also please keep doing what you're doing. This will give us the best chance to come out of the problems that we're having with COVID-19 the quickest. The more people comply the better that this is going to work out for us.”
Wasatch County’s ‘Stay at Home’ order went into effect on Wednesday. You can find a link to the full meeting here.
