TriCounty Health Department provided an update on Tuesday concerning the steady increase of local cases of COVID-19. Sadly, there has been one new death in Duchesne County, for a total of five COVID-19 related deaths in the tri-county area. Tuesday saw an increase of 38 cases from the day before bringing the total active cases to 695 for the tri-county area, that breaks down to 419 in Uintah County, 217 in Duchesne County, 4 in Daggett County and 55 within the Ute Indian Tribe. To date that is a total of 1,327 COVID-19 cases in the tri-county area. TriCounty Health Officer Jordan Mathis spoke with Amy on the KLCY 105.5 Eagle Country morning show on Tuesday explaining that as numbers continue to rise, the health department is concerned that Thanksgiving gatherings will increase cases. There hasn’t been a plateau of cases in our area since early October, explains Mathis, and the tri-county area is now seeing about 1 to 2 hospitalizations per day. Community members are encouraged to follow safety recommendations and to keep gatherings small. In what Mathis calls some good news, three companies have come out with promising data in regards to their COVID-19 vaccine trials. We probably won’t see any in our area until January, explains Mathis, but the hope is that the vaccine will drive down the death rate among high risk individuals. It was also hoped that a vaccine could be distributed in some areas to high risk populations and health workers as early as December. For more information on COVID-19, visit www.tricountyhealth.com and www.coronavirus.utah.gov.
