SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Travelers coming into Utah will be required to identify themselves and report any coronavirus symptoms as they arrive, Gov. Gary Herbert said Wednesday.
Highways will be “geofenced” at the five most common entry points so drivers get a text message through a federal wireless emergency alert system asking them to fill out an online form if they are staying in the state, authorities said. At the Salt Lake International Airport, people will hand out cards with QR code linking to the form starting Friday.
The form will have people identify themselves and report their recent travels as well as any symptoms. People who could spread the virus will be asked to self-quarantine and possibly get tested. The effort will get federal funding, and the information will stored in a secure Utah Department of Health database.
“This allows us the data to be able to manage those folks entering our state and to be able to control the virus,” said Carlos Braceras, executive director of the Department of Transportation. Though, “we don’t plan on chasing people down who do not fill it out.”
The state has also ordered no-touch thermometers to test people as the arrive at the airport, though they haven’t been received yet, Salt Lake City mayor Erin Mendenhall said.
In other developments:
- Utah researchers announced they are joining a global push to determine if an anti-malaria drug not officially approved for fighting the new coronavirus is useful in fighting the pandemic.
Clinical studies announced by the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Healthcare are among dozens underway around the world as doctors and scientists aim to fast-track testing to assess the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine on the virus.
President Donald Trump has been touting the drug even even though scientists say more testing is needed before it’s proven safe and effective.
Researchers hope to eventually test 2,300 patients who have tested positive or show symptoms, and could have some early results in about three months.
They will also test a drug called azithromycin, an antibiotic typically used to fight pneumonia.
The likelihood is that hydroxychloroquine does not have an effect on coronavirus patients, said Dr. Samuel Brown, a critical care researcher at Intermountain Healthcare.
The drug is officially approved for treating malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, not COVID-19. Small, preliminary studies have suggested it might help prevent the new coronavirus from entering cells and possibly help patients clear the virus sooner. But those studies have shown mixed results.
The Food and Drug Administration has allowed the medication into the national stockpile as an option for doctors to consider for patients who cannot get into one of the studies.
But the drug has major potential side effects, especially for the heart, doctors said.
The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, for a few weeks in most people, but for some it can cause pneumonia and death.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.