Hospitals in Utah at coronavirus 'breaking point', says Gov. Gary Herbert

Utah's coronavirus case count increased by nearly 4,000 on Thursday, setting another single-day record for confirmed cases as COVID-19 surges in the state. "Today we are reporting an additional 3,919 new cases. Our rolling-day seven-day average of new cases is 2,738, and our rolling seven-day positivity is 23.2 percent," state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said during a briefing.

Gov. Gary Herbert said the state is at "the breaking point" in terms of the capacity of hospitals to deal with incoming coronavirus patients. Utah's Intermountain Healthcare system is finding support for its COVID-19 treatment efforts during the surge from New York Presbyterian Hospital. Some 31 nurses from the New York hospital are working at the Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

In April, medical staff from Intermountain were in New York City to assist area hospitals during that state's surge of COVID-19 cases. "New York-Presbyterian is now returning the favor and answering Utah's call for help," according to a statement from Intermountain Healthcare.

Deeply conservative Utah began a major shift in fighting the coronavirus pandemic Monday, implementing a statewide mask mandate for the first time and planning a dramatic increase in testing. The move came a couple days after the presidential race was called for Democrat Joe Biden, but Republican Gov. Gary Herbert said the mask mandate's timing wasn’t political.

He said it was an essential move to avoid disaster with a surge already threatening to overwhelm hospitals ahead of the holiday season. He says politics has gotten in the way of addressing the crisis effectively.Utah joins more than 30 other states that have implemented statewide mask orders since the pandemic began.

(Image Credit: AP) 

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