Stock photo.| Photo by Nature/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Gov. Spencer Cox announced Friday that the state’s emergency response to COVID-19 will end March 31.

Updated 7 p.m., Feb. 18: Additional information and quotes from health officials on precautions now needed, updated numbers.

Gov. Spencer Cox delivers his 2022 State of the State address in the House Chamber of the Utah Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 in Salt Lake City. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called for keeping children in school during the coronavirus pandemic, warned against making voting more difficult and lamented destructive political divisions during his State of the State address Thursday | Photo by Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, St. George News

That will include the end of statewide COVID-19 testing including the free testing sites like the one at Tech Ridge in St. George. Like testing for other diseases, testing will be limited to doctor’s offices, health clinics and pharmacies, as well as at-home tests.

“It is now time to transfer from an emergency posture to a cautious posture,” Cox said during a press conference at the State Capitol in Salt Lake City. “Let me be clear, this is not the end of COVID, but it is the beginning of treating COVID like other respiratory viruses.”

Cox said he doesn’t like the medical term “endemic,” where disease is maintained at a baseline level, because he said that will be difficult for most people to understand. Instead, he said the state is doing a “six-week ramp back” to a “steady state model.”

Not addressed was whether statewide COVID-19 vaccination clinics will also come to an end. There was also no mention about the thousands of Utahns suffering through the condition known as long COVID-19, who are still seeing fatigue, shortness of breath and other debilitating symptoms long after infection.

Tom Hudachko, spokesperson for the Utah Department of Health, told St. George News that while the state may ramp down its own COVID-19 vaccination clinics and vans, local health departments are likely to continue theirs in the same way they conduct influenza vaccine clinics.

David Heaton, the spokesperson for the local Southwest Utah Public Health Department, said they don’t have any specifics yet on the future of their COVID-19 vaccination programs. However, just like other vaccines, COVID-19 inoculations will be available through doctors, health clinics and pharmacies.

The end of the emergency will come two years to the day that the previous Gov. Gary Herbert started the emergency with the “Stay Safe, Stay Home” recommendation when Cox was lieutenant governor.

Since then, 584 Southern Utahns, 4,359 Utahns and more than 930,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 and local hospitals have seen their most crowded conditions in their history.

A worker provides a COVID-19 test kit at the Soft Cell free test drive-thru at Dixie State’s Atwood Innovation Plaza, St. George, Utah, Jan. 13, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

Cox said now is the time to not just move on from COVID as a major emergency but also move on from many of the political divisions of the pandemic. He criticized both those who are too dismissive about COVID and those who he said are taking it “too seriously.”

“There are still people unvaccinated who need to take this a lot more seriously, and there are still people who are vaccinated and boosted who are taking this too seriously,” Cox said, reiterating what he said Thursday that he would like to see fewer “divisive” COVID and vaccine bills coming out of the state Legislature such as HB 60, which would ban businesses from requiring vaccines. “One of the ways we can show we’re done is to stop divisive bills in the Legislature.”

Stock photo.| Photo by
Visivasnc/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

The governor also had strong words for some activists who have been saying that the state drawing back its COVID response is making the environment more dangerous for immunocompromised and elderly people who are more prone to the strong effects of COVID-19. He said all of society doesn’t need to take extra precautions that could be made by the immunocompromised themselves. He cited having immunocompromised family members.

“It’s false that if you’re immunocompromised, we can’t protect you. I have two immunocompromised siblings. I have a sister who wears an N95 mask every winter. We wore masks before it was cool. The idea we need to be stuck in this forever is not science,” Cox said, adding that he also rejects people bullying those who chose to still mask up after the emergency is over. “If you see someone wearing a mask, don’t mock them. They may have cancer or be immunocompromised.

“There are people wearing masks … that’s OK. There are people not wearing masks – that’s OK.”

Sign seen in Smith’s Food and Drug on Bluff Street, St. George, Utah, Dec. 29, 2021 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

The omicron variant came through with a hurricane, with January seeing the largest number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths of the entire pandemic. However, local infections in Southern Utah have gone from more than 300 per day at the start of the month to 50 to 75 infections per day this week according to the Utah Department of Health.

But because omicron infected so many, there is a high percentage of those immune from getting severe COVID-19 now. The Associated Press reports that right now, 73% of Americans are immune to omicron and that number could reach 80% by next month.

While a minority, 46.7%, of Southern Utahns are fully vaccinated and 20% are boosted, the surge of omicron at one time had at least 1 of every 10 Southern Utahns infected in January according to the Utah Department of Health, giving those people an added natural immunity for between 90 days to eight months. Those who are vaccinated, experts say, should remain immune for at least another year, and especially protects them from hospitalization and death.

Heaton said there is evidence that omicron, which wiped out the stronger delta variant, has played a role in setting the stage for a ramp down.

This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19 | Photo by Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via Associated Press, St. George News

“Omicron has been the type of variant that could indeed be a factor in that transition … fast-spreading, less severe,” Heaton said. “We would still want to see a greater decline in hospitalizations and deaths.”

There have also been previous lulls during the pandemic. At one point last April, there were suddenly no COVID-19 patients at St. George Regional Hospital. That was followed by the delta variant in the summer and omicron in the last few months causing the largest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations locally of the entire pandemic.

For the second-straight week, the number of Southern Utahns hospitalized has dropped. There is something closer to normal in the intensive care unit at the St. George hospital, as for the first time since last summer the ICU is below capacity.

According to officials, as of Friday morning, there were 245 patients in the 284-bed facility, or 86.3% capacity, with 46 COVID-19 patients.

However, Cox and other state officials said like any endemic disease, there still will be spikes with a disease that has been anything but predictable, and the state and public health departments could go right back to an emergency footing if events warrant.

“We are going to keep an eye on what’s coming next,” said Dr. Leisha Nolen, the state epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health. “We need to be ready for that.”

Is it time to take the masks off? That’s a personal choice

Those who have been taking precautions against getting COVID-19 likely now face uncertainties about precautions to take in a post-COVID-emergency world.

The Utah Department of Health’s Hudachko said as of right now, their guidance regarding masks hasn’t changed.

“It’s still our guidance that people should wear masks in large indoor gatherings,” Hudachko said.

What has changed, Hudachko said, is that health officials are moving more toward a stance that people will have to decide for themselves how much risk they’re willing to take.

“People need to determine their own comfort level with precautions and risk tolerance.”

The director of the Centers for Disease Control, Rochelle Paula Walensky, said earlier this week that the CDC will release new guidance in the coming days concerning face coverings.

However, media reports say that guidance is likely to be similar to that the CDC made last Spring before the delta and omicron variants roared COVID right back: That those who are vaccinated, especially those who are boosted, could go back to not wearing masks in most cases. That could also apply to those recently infected. Those at high risk, like unvaccinated, immunocompromised and elderly individuals, might be guided to continue to use extra precautions as well.

As far as level of risk, medical officials have said that while there are now preventions and some treatments, COVID-19 is far from being eradicated and will be one of the stronger potential ailments that people will face for the foreseeable future.

They also say the biggest risk of hospitalization and death will remain for the unvaccinated, the immunocompromised and those over 80. The least risk will be for those either vaccinated and boosted or those who are vaccinated and recently infected with COVID-19.

But in a non-emergency mode, what people do about that risk will be up to them.

Southern Utah coronavirus count as of Friday, according to Utah Department of Health

Positive COVID-19 tests: 62,785 (7-day average of 67.7 per day, down 51.2% in last week)

Washington County (High in Transmission Index): 650.58 per 100K rate in 14 days, falling since Feb. 2
Iron County (High): 633.65, falling
Kane County (High): 682.34, falling
Garfield County (High): 495.05, falling
Beaver County (High): 221.86, falling

Hospitalized: 41 (falling, data updated as of Feb. 17)

Deaths: 584 (25 since Feb. 3)

New infections per day in Southern Utah:

Saturday (Feb. 12): 92
Sunday (Feb. 13): 53
Monday (Feb. 14): 49
Tuesday (Feb. 5): 51
Wednesday (Feb. 16): 76
Thursday (Feb. 17): 66
Friday (Feb. 18): 87

Current Utah seven-day average: 1,055 (falling)

Fully vaccinated in Southern Utah: 122,176 (46.7% fully vaccinated, +0.5% since Feb. 3)

Vaccinated and boosted in Southern Utah: 52,452

St. George: 50.29% fully vaccinated (+0.52%)
Cedar City: 42.73% (+0.54%)
Washington City: 45.77% (+0.49%)
Ivins/Santa Clara: 53.25% (+0.47%)
Hurricane/LaVerkin: 39.74% (+0.32%)
Enterprise/Veyo/Springdale/Hildale: 45.39% (+0.27%)
Beaver/Garfield/Kane counties: 45.73% (+0.7%)

Getting the COVID-19 vaccine

Those who can currently get the first dose of the vaccine: Everyone ages 5 and over. Those 5-18 can only receive the Pfizer vaccine. Use vaccinefinder.org to find clinics that have the Pfizer vaccine.
Those who can receive the second dose: Those who received their first injection 28 days or more before the appointment time.
Those who can receive a booster dose: Those who received Pfizer or Moderna at least five months ago and are 12 or older. Those who received Johnson & Johnson at least two months ago and are 18 or older. Booster shots can be of any form of COVID-19 vaccine.
The Southwest Utah Public Health Department have returned to walk-in appointments. Some pharmacies and stores are offering walk-up appointments. Check the links below before going.
Must wear a short-sleeve shirt at appointment and should have a personal ID.
Vaccines are free of charge.

Washington County:

Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department St. George office, 620 S. 400 East, St George