Month: March 2020

Effective immediately, TriCounty Health has announced that gatherings of more than 10 individuals are now prohibited. This is an order by the state of Utah to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19. The prohibition of gatherings does not apply to grocery stores though all are asked to only make trips for food and essentials as necessary. TriCounty Health asks the public to use discretion when visiting parks or other public gathering places. The state’s order issued on Tuesday also states that all individuals should refrain from visiting nursing care and assisted living facilities and retirement homes except to provide critical assistance.

As measures are taken to try to curb the spread of Coronavirus it can be hard to keep up with the changes day to day, as much for local businesses as citizens. A State Public Health Order was issued by the Utah Department of Health this week stating that beginning March 18th, all food service, restaurants, self-serve buffets, salad bars, unpackaged self-serve food services, bars, taverns, nightclubs, private liquor clubs, and saloons in the state are immediately closed to all patrons. Curbside take-out and drive-through food service is permitted but cash payments are strongly discouraged and online and telephone credit card transactions are strongly encouraged.

March 15th traditionally marks the end of winter ozone season and officials from the Bingham Entrepreneurship & Energy Research Center have great news. There was not a single ozone exceedance day this winter! They also share that the ozone alert email program is closing down until next winter, though they will provide updates on their Twitter feed if there is high ozone this spring and summer due to intrusions of stratospheric air or due to wildfires. Air quality alert information is also available on their new website which they say will be the heart of their program in the coming winter, https://ozonealert.usu.edu. The site includes a real-time numerical 2-day ozone forecast.

Uintah Basin Healthcare wants the community to know that their facility is a safe environment continuing to offer quality care to patients. The organization issued a press release on Monday sharing that they continue to actively respond to the outbreak of COVID-19. They have implemented new screening and visitation policies to protect their patients and staff. All patients and visitors will be screened for possible illness [or] exposure before being allowed to enter and no one will be allowed to enter who is sick or ill except to seek care for their illness.

Distance learning officially starts for Utah students today and each district is handling the shift in their own ways. Duchesne County School District shared on Tuesday that their students who don’t have access to technology at home can check out devices from their schools starting today, March 18th. Those who may need this option are asked to contact their child’s school directly. Duchesne County School District’s plan for providing meals is that breakfast and lunch is delivered to designated bus stops at normal morning pickup times.

The Division of Wildlife Resources has announced that all outreach events are cancelled from now until March 28th with the possibility of that timeframe being extended into April. This affects the Mountain Goat Viewing Day scheduled for March 28th, Loon Watch scheduled for April 11th, and Turkey Clinic scheduled for April 18th. The Division of Wildlife Resources is awaiting more instructions from the DWR Director and the Governor’s Office. The public will be informed as more details are made available.

TriCounty Health Department has issued a local travel advisory for residents of Duchesne, Daggett, and Uintah Counties to restrict all non-essential travel outside their community. “In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 throughout the state we are asking residents to strongly reconsider any recreational, leisure, and non-essential work-related travel that will take them outside of our communities,” shares TriCounty Health Officer Jordan Mathis of the formal local travel advisory issued by TriCounty Health Department. “Although we currently do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our three counties at this time, we are asking residents to continue to take reasonable measures to keep it that way as long as possible.

TriCounty Health Department is doing their part to keep local healthcare providers up to date on the Coronavirus situation around the state and is providing them with the most up-to-date testing protocols. “Testing for COVID-19 is only available in our communities through an order issued by a healthcare provider, as criteria and risk factors are met,” shares TriCounty Health.