PROVO, Utah (AP) - Dozens of workers tested positive for the coronavirus after two Utah County businesses instructed employees not to follow quarantine guidelines and required people who tested positive to continuing reporting to work, leaders said.
Nearly half the employees at one business were infected, authorities said. One establishment was temporarily closed and both have been required to follow strict cleaning and inspection requirements, the Daily Herald reported.
“This is completely unacceptable,” Utah County commissioners wrote in a Monday letter also signed by the mayors of all the cities in the county.
A total of 68 people tested positive, the letter states. Health department officials made the connections through contact tracing, the process of asking people who have the virus who they interacted with to identify potential exposures.
Neither business was named in the letter because of privacy concerns, said Carrie Bennett, chronic disease prevention program manager for the Utah County Health Department, on Tuesday. She also declined to say what services they provide, though state health officials later said they do not directly interact with the public.
The new coronavirus causes flu-like symptoms that most people recover from within weeks, but it can be fatal, especially older adults and people with existing health problems. Nearly 5,500 people have tested positive in Utah and 56 have died.
In other developments:
- The state has rejected a request to allow parts of southwestern Utah to further relax coronavirus restrictions. Washington County leaders said their region wasn’t as hard-hit, and they wanted permission to allow larger gatherings and allow more businesses to re-open, the Spectrum newspaper reported. But state health officials said it was too early to further loosen requirements, especially in a region favored by tourists. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert allowed businesses like restaurants and gyms to slowly re-open statewide last week.
- Churches can begin holding services again, if they practice social distancing, said Major General Jeff Burton, who leads the state health department’s coronavirus task force. They are not subject to the 20-person gathering limit for family and friends who get together.
“It may be that a small church has to have three Sunday services instead of one,” Burton said. “But if they keep that distancing between family groups and make sure they are following those guidelines, they can open.”
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