Governor Herbert announced a 'soft closure' of all 41 public school districts and 116 charter schools for the next 2 weeks. Part of this time period coincides with regularly scheduled spring break, which the closure does not impact. The Superintendent of the Utah Board of Education stated "we're not ending the school year" and this was simply a proactive precaution to prevent the spread of coronavirus amid recent concerns. Soft closure means that facilities will still be open, although most classes will be held in an online format until further notice.
Additional cases of the virus continue to be reported in Utah and through the US as testing becomes more readily available. Local medical facilities, including IHC in Murray have asked that people who want to be screened for the virus should call ahead before arriving for testing.
Data suggests those at highest risk from the virus are individuals who are older than 60 and who have pre-existing conditions that reduce their ability to fight disease, such as cancer, diabetes or heart conditions. Individuals with these two risk factors do show a much higher risk than would be present from a seasonal flu. They are urged to take precautions to prevent the spread of disease, such as social distancing, sanitizing measures or self-quarantine.
Young people and individuals under the age of 60 are at a very low risk. Of more than 145,000 cases worldwide, no children under the age of 10 have died from the virus and most effected in this age group show only mild symptoms if any.
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