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In a day of rapid developments, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Utah jumped from six on Friday to 19 on Saturday.
And one of those cases marks the first documented case where the source of the virus is unknown, what public health officials call community spread.
By the end of the night, Salt Lake County had 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19, all of them tied to travel or direct contact with a person who did travel. Eleven of those cases involve adults, and the other three are children.
One goes to Hunter High School in West Valley City and another child goes to Entheos Academy, a charter school with campuses in Magna and Kearns. Both students are believed to have gone to school while they had symptoms.
In a letter sent to all Hunter High students, parents and staff, Salt Lake County Medical Officer Dagmar Vitek wrote, “Students and staff should quarantine at home until March 27 and monitor themselves for symptoms throughout that time.”
The same goes for those with ties to Entheos Academy.
A graduate student at the University of Utah also tested positive.
This student works at the counseling center at the Student Services Building. The student returned from another state, where it is believed that he or she contracted the virus. The student is self-isolating.
The counseling center remains open.
Davis County announced its second case involving an adult younger than 60, who is staying at home. This person also traveled out of the country recently. Officials with the county health department wrote in a public notice released on Twitter that the person and his or her family should be commended for how they handled the situation.
The person self-isolated after returning from overseas, sleeping in a separate room, using a separate bathroom, eating separately and even using a separate garbage can.
“Due to these efforts, no close contacts have been identified, no public venues were affected, and there is no risk to other Davis County residents in relation to this case,” the news release said.
A doorman at Park City’s Spud Bar & Grill hadn’t traveled to any area where there’s a known COVID-19 outbreak. It is not clear how he got the virus and is the first case of community spread in Utah. He’s also recovering at home.
Summit County health officials say the man was more of a risk to spread the disease to his coworkers than to bar patrons, but asked everyone who was at the bar since March 6 to be on the watch for any of the symptoms of coronavirus, such as a fever, cough and shortness of breath.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
