Will the Delta variant bring back masks in Utah?
UTAH (ABC4)  Were not out of the woods yet. Although many factors have suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic may be in its waning stages  such as Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox no longer holding weekly briefings, the states daily new case counts staying below 500 since the middle of March, and the vaccine now being widely available  health officials are still keeping an eye on the Delta variant and its potential to reignite the issue. The concern for the variant, which has been found to be the most transmissible of other variants, is so great that Los Angeles County in California is urging residents and visitors to once again don a mask in public indoor places. The announcement by health officials in L.A. comes two weeks after California was fully opened and the statewide mask mandate was lifted. The current recommendation is not a mandate. Until we better understand how and to who the Delta variant is spreading, everyone should focus on maximum protection with minimum interruption to routine as all businesses operate without other restrictions, like physical distancing and capacity limits, the L.A. County Health Department said in a news release. While Californians are having to take a step back of sorts by recommending masks once again, Utah health officials have not made such a move. As of now, the rule is simple: mask up if you must, dont if you dont need to. Our recommendations are in line with CDC. If youre vaccinated, then theres no need for you to be wearing a mask. If youre not vaccinated, you should consider wearing masks at times where you might be exposed to large crowds and potentially infected people, Utah Department of Health communications director Tom Hudachko tells ABC4. That said, the department is monitoring the situation with the Delta variant closely. Fortunately, according to Hudachko, the solution is simple. It looks like its got the potential to spread more easily than some of the other variants that weve seen, he says. The good news is that it also appears to be susceptible to the vaccine. So the pretty obvious answer here for everybody is to get vaccinated.  Continuing the vaccination efforts has been a major objective for many of the top leaders in the state. On July 10, Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson, standing in for the Governor, rattled off a series of statistics indicating how impactful the vaccine can be in the fight against the coronavirus. At the time of her address at the statewide briefing, Utah had reported 22,767 total cases. Of that number, 99.6% occurred within the group of unvaccinated people. Additionally, 95% of hospitalizations have occurred with unvaccinated folks with 62 of the 64 reported deaths being attributed to unvaccinated residents. It should be obvious to most everyone that the vaccines are working to prevent most cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, Henderson said. Hudachko echoes the Lt. Gov.s remarks when speaking to ABC4 on Thursday, even as the Delta variant has expanded its reach within the United States. I think the biggest thing is that the vaccines work, he states. Were seeing a bit of a surge right now in cases and the vast majority of our cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are amongst nonvaccinated people. So its really clear where this virus is currently spreading and its spreading among people who have not taken the time to get vaccinated yet.  As for whether or not the department would be able to recommend mask-wearing again, Hudachko explains that due to the passing of recent legislation, mask mandates must go through additional steps as compared to the beginning of the pandemic. The most notable of those pieces of legislation was H.B. 294, which was tagged as the End Game Bill for setting the standards of ending COVID-19 related emergency powers and certain public health orders. According to the bill, any public health order would be lifted or terminated on the day that the states 14-day case rate dropped below 191 per 100,000, the seven-day hospitalization dipped to less than 15%, and 1,633,000 prime doses of the vaccine were obtained. Utah reached all the above thresholds on May 4 and the mask mandate was terminated on May 10. Should the Delta variant continue to spread and cause further disruption, getting Utahns back in masks would be difficult if needed. The End Game Bill does not outline a plan to re-institute a mask mandate, and other pieces of law  including H.B. 1007, which prohibits an institution of higher learning or a public education system from requiring masks  also set roadblocks for officials to implement another mask mandate. Henderson and Hudachko would both say that the best way to prevent any sort of discussion on mask requirements would be for Utahns to get vaccinated. However, as the state nears its July 4 deadline of 70% of eligible residents getting at least one dose of the vaccine, even Gov. Cox has acknowledged that the state will likely fall short of that target. That doesnt mean, however, that a return to the height of the pandemic would be imminent. Getting 70% of Utahns vaccinated and achieving herd immunity is not synonymous, says Hudachko. Its going to be difficult to get to 70%, but its not a line in the sand where if you dont get better than that, all is lost, he explains. 70% is the goal that we set for ourselves and if we get there, fantastic. If we dont, its still incredible to have 65% of people vaccinated or whatever the case may be.