Utah predicts ‘endemic’ phase of COVID-19

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SALT LAKE CITY – The State of Utah is making plans for the endemic phase of COVID-19.

A plan, written by the Utah Department of Health and shared with FOX 13, lays the groundwork for the virus to become a regular — and hopefully smaller — part of our lives. But first we have to get through that last push caused by the omicron variant.

“It’s a plan we’ve started working on,” Gov. Spencer Cox said in brief remarks to FOX 13 on Tuesday. “Of course, omicron has put this work on hold. We are fully focused on omicron. We encourage people to get vaccinated, to get boosted. We know that’s the best way to prevent serious illnesses. And that’s the best way to enter the endemic phase.”

In the endemic phase, COVID-19 should still be here, but it’s not overwhelming Utah’s healthcare systems like it is now.

“In the traditional definition, it’s something that’s a routine infection that will happen and it’s expected to happen at a baseline level in our population,” the state epidemiologist said. , Dr. Leisha Nolen, about the endemic. “While a pandemic goes far beyond what we expect and is really overstretching resources.”

Nor will COVID-19 testing be maximized or required en masse as is currently the case. Dr Nolen also warned that it’s not like there’s a switch and we go from ‘pandemic’ to ‘endemic’.

“There won’t be a day when ‘God is the pandemic yesterday and today we are endemic,'” she said. “It’s just not going to happen. It’s an incremental system change.”

The state plan also has a few benchmarks to be considered endemic. For example, Utah must be in a plateau of COVID-19 cases or decline for 45 days and 70% of Utah’s population must be in a low transmission area. Currently, only Utah’s least populated county, Daggett County, is in low transmission according to data from the Utah Coronavirus Task Force. The rest of the state is in high transmission for COVID-19.

Russ Slade, FOX 13 News

The COVID-19 transmission map as of January 20, 2022.

And it’s an evolving plan as the virus evolves.

“The reality is we have to see what’s going to work with our partners, what’s really going to be able to allow us to go about our normal lives without these infections disrupting a lot of our society,” Dr. Nolen told FOX. 13. “Numbers are useful as an idea, but they are not the end goal.”

Some members of the Utah State Legislature certainly pushed for an endemic phase to occur sooner. Lawmakers last week voted to end mask mandates in Salt Lake and Summit counties, hoping the omicron-induced surge will be COVID-19’s last gasp.

Because of the omicron variant, Utah’s testing capacity is maxed out and hospitalizations are still very high. But there are signs that the thrust is starting to weaken. Dr. Nolen said Summit County appears to have transformed.

“I think Salt Lake is about to turn, and some of the more rural areas of the state are still seeing this surge,” she said.

Vaccinations and boosters are what people can do now to help the state move closer to an endemic phase, Dr. Nolen said. Currently, about 64% of eligible Utahns are considered fully vaccinated.

“If we protect the whole population, we can move to a different level,” Dr Nolen said. “It’s the unprotected people, unfortunately, who end up in the hospital and that’s what really burdens our system.”

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