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Utah County health officials and doctors urge masking and distancing as cases and hospital use rise; commissioners weigh mandate options
Summary
Intermountain Healthcare briefed the commission on rising COVID-19 cases and hospital strain and recommended universal masking when physical distancing is not possible; doctors cited test positivity, asymptomatic spread and capacity concerns while county legal counsel and a physician‑attorney flagged ADA and enforcement issues around any mandate.
Intermountain Healthcare representatives and local medical professionals told the Utah County Board of County Commissioners that cases and hospitalizations are rising and urged stronger community mitigation measures, particularly masking when physical distancing cannot be maintained.
"We are now averaging nearly a 100 new positive ... individuals a day," Tracy Hill, chief medical director at Utah Valley Hospital, told the commission. Hill and infectious‑disease physician Eddie Steniam described an upward trend in cases and hospitalizations and said planning for capacity and staffing stress is under way.
"If the surge continues on the rate that we're currently on, we will be stretching our capacity…
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