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It’s Tuesday, May 5. We’ll provide the latest coronavirus updates involving Utah throughout the day.
[Read complete coronavirus coverage here.]
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8:50 p.m.: Provo’s Stadium of Fire concert is canceled, but July 4 fireworks will go on
The “fire” part of Stadium of Fire will continue — but the other big summer events of America’s Freedom Festival, Provo’s annual Fourth of July celebration, have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The safety and health of our guests is always the first priority at any Freedom Festival event, period,” Jim Evans, the festival’s executive director, said in a statement Tuesday evening. “With so many of our loved ones at risk from this illness, including so many wonderful military veterans, we have to be especially careful this year.”
Among the events canceled — or “postponed until 2021,” as the statement puts it — are the Stadium of Fire concert in Brigham Young University’s LaVell Edwards Stadium, the Grand Parade, the Balloon Fest, and Freedom Days.
Evans said the fireworks show, billed most years as the country’s biggest stadium pyrotechnics display, will continue. The free show is set for July 4, and will be “our way of saying thank you to Utah’s brave essential workers, and to a community that’s supported us for so many years.” Details of how the fireworks show will be presented are still to be announced.
The festival’s spring student art, essay, speech and teacher contests will continue, in a virtual format. Submission deadlines have been extended to May 18.
Stadium of Fire was set to mark its 40th year in 2020. Last year, country singer Keith Urban was the headliner, and movie tough-guy Chuck Norris made an appearance.
— Sean P. Means
7:23 p.m.: Utah offers masks, hand sanitizer to small businesses trying to reopen
Small businesses trying to reopen from their coronavirus-imposed slumber can get some help — in the form of face masks and hand sanitizer — from the state of Utah.
Sole proprietors and businesses with 50 or fewer employees can get for free a week’s supply of personal protective equipment, as part of the “PPE Push Pack” program announced Tuesday by Gov. Gary Herbert.
Herbert called the public/private program a “jump start” for businesses — particularly in the retail, personal care and hospitality industries — as they try to line up supplies for the long term, as the state moves to “moderate risk” COVID-19 protocols.
The packs include masks and hand sanitizer, and may include gloves or other items, depending on the business and on what’s available in state inventory. The packs are a one-time gift to business owners, who are advised to find vendors from which to buy protective equipment going forward — preferably, in Herbert’s view, from Utah companies.
The state maintains a list of Utah vendors online, and has posted an online request form for businesses in need of a pack.
— Sean P. Means
1:45 p.m.: Check our unclaimed property list, Utah state treasurer says
Utah State Treasurer David Damschen says you might have property waiting to be claimed. He’s encouraging Utahns to look for their unclaimed property during the pandemic on mycash.utah.gov.
Currently, the unclaimed property division in the treasurer’s office has more than $370 million in lost money. Every year, the division reunites Utahns with tens of millions of dollars of lost property, and over a third of this usually goes to businesses.
Last year, the division helped Utahns find a record $29.3 million in lost property and more than $10.9 million went to businesses.
Funds go to the state’s unclaimed property division after three years, when a business owes money to an individual or company it can’t find. In 2019, property holders turned over 380,221 new properties totaling $56.4 million to the division.
“This money has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of Utahns during these challenging times. We encourage every Utahn to search the state website for lost money, including money that might belong to your business,” Damschen said in a news release.
“One in five Utahns has lost money," Damschen said, "so the odds are high that you or somebody you know has money waiting to be claimed.”
— Zoi Walker
12:35 p.m.: Utah reports six new deaths
The Utah Department of Health announced six new deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday, the highest number since the pandemic came to Utah. That brings the total number of deaths in the state to 56.
The previous record was five deaths reported on April 6.
There are also 132 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state as of Tuesday, bringing the total to 5,449 — a daily rate increase of 2.4% from Monday. Fifteen additional people have been hospitalized and more than 2,000 new tests have been reported since Monday.
The higher death toll comes at a time when Utah’s government has turned the official coronavirus risk dial from red to orange, signaling a new phase of handling the COVID-19 pandemic with fewer restrictions on businesses and movement.
The Utah Department of Health said in a news release on Tuesday that three of the coronavirus deaths were men and three were women. Four were from Salt Lake County, one was from Utah County and another was from Washington County.
The majority were between the ages of 61 and 85 years old, while one was older than 85 and another was between 45 and 60. All had underlying medical conditions and were hospitalized at the time of their deaths, the department said. Two were residents of long-term care facilities.
People over age 65 are particularly vulnerable to severe illness as a result of the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eight in 10 deaths in the United States associated with the virus have affected that age group so far.
— Taylor Stevens
10:35 a.m.: University of Utah receives 10,000 donated masks from China
The University of Utah has received a donation of 10,000 medical masks from its international education partner in China.
The Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau sent the equipment as a thank you after the U. has helped train officials there in how to run a national park as the area looks to open its first in China.
“It underscores the long-term partnership the university and the Sichuan province have developed to train national park administrators in best practices,” said U. President Ruth Watkins in a statement. “It also signals what I hope will be an ongoing collaboration.”
This is the second year that the U. has offered training to the group on park management. Last fall, 17 officials from the Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau attended the program.
The donated masks will be used by health care providers at the U.’s hospital.
— Courtney Tanner
10:05 a.m.: Study says Utah has the second-fewest coronavirus restrictions
Only one state has fewer COVID-19 restrictions than Utah, according to a study by the personal finance website WalletHub.com.
WalletHub used nine metrics to compare all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including limits on travel and large gatherings; shelter-in-place orders; and whether restaurants and bars, schools and nonessential businesses have reopened. Using data collected through Monday, only South Dakota had fewer restrictions than Utah.
The analysis considered statewide orders; it did not examine county-by-county restrictions.
Utah ranked first (fewest) in requirements to wear a face mask in public, travel restrictions and reopening of nonessential businesses; second in reopening of restaurants and bars; and seventh in large-gathering restrictions and shelter-in-place orders.
The top five states on the list — those with the fewest restrictions — are 1. South Dakota; 2. Utah; 3. North Dakota; 4. Missouri; and 5. Idaho. 6. Tennessee; 7. Montana; 8. Texas; 9. Florida; and 10. Iowa.
The states at the bottom of the list — those with the most restrictions — are 41. Delaware; 42. Connecticut; 43. Ohio; 44. Massachusetts; 45. New York; 46. New Jersey; 47. Pennsylvania; 48. Illinois; 49. District of Columbia; and 50. Hawaii.
— Scott D. Pierce
9:45 a.m.: Salt Lake Community College offers free online workshops
Salt Lake Community College is offering free online workshops for anyone looking for something to do during the pandemic. The instruction begins May 18 and will run through mid-July.
A full list of offerings can be found at slcc.edu/free. Anyone can sign up for a workshop, and they include lessons ranging from yoga and mindfulness to how to repair drywall to HTML coding. There’s one on writing your own screenplay and another on philosophy.
Some of the lessons are also focused on starting a new career, such as how to format a resume, prepare for an interview or start your own business.
SLCC spokesman Joy Tlou said: “We want to make sure people are staying busy.”
— Courtney Tanner
7:23 a.m.: Utah nurse gets a birthday gift, and a thank you, from Taylor Swift
A Utah nurse got a surprise 30th birthday present after she got home from working at a New York hospital beset by the COVID-19 pandemic: A big thank you from singer Taylor Swift.
Whitney Hilton, who lives in Farmington and works at Ogden’s McKay-Dee Hospital, returned in April from a deployment at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York. Over the weekend, she tweeted her surprise at receiving a large box from Swift. Inside were several items of merchandise from Swift’s latest album, “Lover,” and a handwritten note.
“I can’t thank you enough for risking your life to help people and for spreading the message loudly that people need to hear about taking this seriously,” Swift wrote.
Swift wrote that she saw a photo of Hilton, a Swift fan, at one of her concerts. “I would love to give you a hug next time and thank you in person,” Swift wrote in the note, previously reported by People.
On a blog maintained by Intermountain Healthcare, Hilton posted on April 19 about her COVID-19 experience: “The people need help, the nurses need help, the doctors need help, everyone needs help. This is crisis mode like I’ve never seen.”
Hilton also wrote, “One thing I want to SCREAM from the rooftops is that if you could see what we see here, you’d do ANYTHING humanly possible to prevent it.”
— Sean P. Means