SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, March 13, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A sixth case of the coronavirus has been identified in Utah, this one in Salt Lake County.
With two new cases identified Friday morning in Summit County, the number of confirmed cases has doubled since Thursday.
All cases have been travel related or suffered by someone in close contact with a traveler, Dr. Angela Dunn, Utah state epidemiologist, told listeners at a midday news conference.
“We have identified our sixth Utah case,” she said. “This is a Salt Lake County resident, and our local health department is in the process of doing the contact briefing, identifying anyone who has come into close contact with this case, and ensuring that their risk is assessed, and they are isolated and get the care that they need that is appropriate.
“This case is again travel related, so we have not identified any community transmitted COVID-19 in Utah thus far. We do have a few in Summit County that are related to tourists ….
“Our Utah Public Health laboratory has tested over 300 patients for COVID-19 thus far, and private labs are starting to come online, so as that happens, we will be getting more tests results from private labs as well.”
The most recent patient is in self-isolation, Dunn said. He used drive-through testing, so that limited his exposure to other people, she said. He believes he was exposed to a coronavirus carrier on a recent trip to New York, Dunn said.
Previous cases announced have been in Davis County, in Weber or Morgan County (the counties share a health department, and which county the patient was in was not specified), and in Summit County.
