September 28, 2020

"I think it takes everybody's cooperation, patience, and we know there's inconvenience, we know there's sacrifice that's been required, but that's how we're going to get through this and have a safe environment for our kids to get a good education, hopefully inside the building." Governor Herbert

ANNOUNCER:  PBS Utah presents the Governor's Monthly News Conference. An exchange between Utah reporters and Governor Gary Herbert.

RAEANN CHRISTENSEN, PBS UTAH: Thank you so much for joining us for Governor's Monthly News Conference, I'm RaeAnn Christensen. We first went ahead to the Capitol to get an opening statement from the Governor.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, thank you, RaeAnn, it's great to be with you today even though we're having to do this virtually.

We all know that the Corona virus problem really just monopolizes all of our news and every day is a new day and we hope the days are getting better. We're in a difficult time right now with the surge that's taking place. Some call it the second wave of this pandemic taking place here in Utah. I've spent a lot of time with what we call our Unified Command, which is made up of 40 people internally, but it represents another 150 people outside. These are from all walks of life, with expertise in science, and medicine, data analysis, our education folks, and what we're taking and trying to do there, as well as our business community. And trying to follow what we've called a balanced approach, to make sure that we maintain our economy as best we can and yet protect and lives and healthcare and welfare of our citizens.

And on balance we've done a pretty good job, as I've said before and I'll reiterate again, we have about the lowest mortality rate in the nation at 0.7%. And our overall death rate since the beginning of this is 14 per 100,000. You can contrast that with New York, which some have put up as an example of success, where they have 170 deaths per 100,000. So our ability to keep health and welfare of the people at the forefront, I think's been a success and I appreciate the work of so many.

As you know, we had a plan, we started out with the Utah Leads Together, it's gone through different iterations as we've learned more and got more information and we've made modifications and changes for improvement. And we follow that pretty well. That's what's helped lead us to what's happening in Provo and Orem as we've had to move that area and where we have a dramatic surge in infections and case numbers there. From yellow to back to orange, first time we've done that in our seven months of having the plan in place. And we appreciate the fact that the people are stepping up.

It is concerning when I see pictures of people lined up to get testing in Utah County in their automobiles going to some of the hospitals there and the line is, you know, a block or two long. People are having symptoms, they're going in and getting tested and we see that this is a needed effort on all of our parts to help slow the spread down, and particularly in the Utah County area. I appreciate the work of those down there, the Utah County Health Department, the Utah County Commission led by commissioner Ange are taking this thing very seriously and trying to find ways that they can encourage others to modify their behavior. And that's really what it's about, all of us have a role to play and we need to change our behaviors. We in fact control our own destiny. And if we do proper protocols we can slow the spread and have some great success when it comes to, in fact, protecting people's health. 

Last but not least, let me just say that on the economic side, because there's some not good news out there. Let me just give a shout out to our medical personnel, they're working very hard. They improved the medical procedures so people are staying less time in the hospitals. There is a surge now of hospitalization, which is a concern. And it's not just a matter of having beds, it's a matter of having personnel. And I just talked to Mark Harrison from Intermountain Healthcare and the people are tired and exhausted and it wears on them. Wears on all of us, but our front line responders in the healthcare are doing a great job and we appreciate their work and the successes that we're having there, which are real.

Last but not least, I'll just mention this, during this time of pandemic, you know, things have slowed down dramatically. We've been better in Utah than most any other state in closing down economic opportunity and making sure that people still have jobs. And I just had a list here given to me this morning of what's happened here in the past three or four months.

Northrop Grumman received a new contract, and they're going to expand their footprint here in Utah, creating 2,500 jobs on their missile development program that they are involved with at Northrop Grumman, 2,500 jobs here in Utah on the Wasatch Front. Maloof is expanding to Northern Utah, will add a 1,000 jobs in Logan. Go Health is adding 1,000 jobs in Utah County. Misfits Markets is locating its western headquarters now to Utah. Amazon on our Amazon Web Services have announced expansions now in Utah, with hundreds of more jobs coming to Utah.

Companies in our outdoor recreation, which has become really an opportunity for people to get out and about and to not be so confined have had significant increase, maybe record years, in our bike shops, RV dealers, ATV dealers, boat dealers, golf stores. Golf courses are having record numbers of rounds. That's a great place to go out and have physical distance and get outdoors and have some recreational opportunities, golf courses are thriving.

We recognize that some industries are not so successful. Our hospitality industry down about 17% and that's probably the hardest hit of all the economic development opportunities we have, it's been a big part of our economy and we really are concerned about that and we want to make sure we do what we can to get that to rebound and recover.

We are on the road to recovery, Derek Miller from the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce wrote a nice article I think in the Deseret News today about Utah's on the road to recovery when it comes to economics. There is also, I should mention, if you go to jobs@utah.gov we have, in fact, a job fair. We'll have a 1,000 participants, or excuse me, 100 participating businesses today that have got thousands of job openings that are available for people out there so talk to workforce services, go to jobs@utah.gov. There are opportunities for people who are out of work to get a job and maybe a new career. But we are cognizant of those needs out there. And again, the work we're having here and what we're doing and trying to find balance on protecting people's lives until we can get a vaccine, I think it's all of us have a responsibility in that regard.

So again, it's a matter of us working together and doing the best we can and I think we're on the right road to recovery. And that means protecting people's health at the same time too.

With that I'll take any questions you might have.

RAEANN CHRISTENSEN, PBS UTAH: Okay, thank you so much, governor, we're going to open it up to reporters in the studio for questions.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: Governor, what do you think of Provo High School moving their homecoming game to a Spanish Fork as apparently a way to sidestep your health directives? And do you have any concerns that other schools are going to do this with sporting events?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, I guess taking a positive look at this, I applaud their creativity, thinking outside the box, but I'm not sure the message is the right message. We have a serious problem and it's not fictional, it's real. We have people are getting sick and we have people who have died. And so with that surge that's taking place at the epicenter of our caseloads right now. Today we'll announce 1,198 new cases today. Our hospitalization rate, which was down to 115, it'll be up to about 180, even though we're spending less time in the hospital, that's still those numbers of cause and concern for those who run our health care and our hospitals.

This is something we need to be working together on and understand that our focus has got to be united. So as we unite and focus on this and we all have roles to play, we can get through this. So again, the good news for the Provo High School is that they're going to be allowed to play football. We know there's an inconvenience and a sacrifice, and maybe there won't be any fans in the stadium and that's sad for parents and friends of the players. I get it, I understand that.

But we have a higher calling right now to stop the spread of this coronavirus and to do what's in our power to in fact do that. And we all have a responsibility and a role to play. So I hope that we'll do that. Again, the inconvenience and sacrifice are momentary, but people get sick probably have long-term impacts and those that die of course, it's the ultimate sacrifice. So let's work together, let's play by the rules, and let's work together to stifle the spread of this Corona virus. 

SONJA HUTSON, KUER:  Case counts are still high in Utah County, not just in Provo and Orem, have you seen anything in the numbers that would make you consider moving the whole county back to orange?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, of course that's the possibility. That is the threat, I guess, that is out there. We're trying to do this incrementally. We don't want to overreact, we don't want to underreact. We're trying to find that right balance point. And so the epicenter of all these infections are coming out of Orem and Provo. I appreciate the fact that the universities, BYU and UVU, have taken it seriously and you've read their strongly worded letter that they've sent to their students.

That, hey, we expect behavior modifications. And if not stricter measures may be forthcoming. There's been some in the student body that have pushed back on their leadership. I think inappropriately, by the way, a lack of respect and understanding maybe. But I appreciate the fact that the administration of the schools have pushed back on them and saying, this is not being done by some kind of pull it out of the sky approach to policy. This is based on the best wisdom and expertise we have with epidemiologists and medical people and science that's informing them on their decisions of what they're doing on campus. And what they expect the young people and the students to do off campus.

So it's everybody working together and, again, we are trying to do what I've called a more scalpeled approach here, but certainly if it needs be, we can expand that scalpel. We hope that doesn't happen.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: Governor, with those cases climbing, and this appears to be a new record, are you looking at any stricter statewide measures?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Certainly we always have that on the table to consider, but as you look at some of our areas of the state of Utah, you go to Garfield County, you're out in the Uinta Basin or up in Rich County, Paiute, some of our rural areas, to have a statewide mask mandate doesn't make a lot of sense in those areas. They have virtually no infections and no deaths. And so, again, we have enough divisiveness out there as it is, but there's not really any benefit to a statewide mask mandate in those parts of the state. So we've left that, as you know, we've been consistent on saying if there's a need for those kinds of more strict measures, we look to the local government people who know what's best, know the demographics, know the culture, know the situation as well as anybody, if not better than anybody, to make those kinds of decisions. So I don't see a need when we have 14 of our counties that are ingrained and virtually no infection rates and zero deaths to have a statewide mass mandate that would encompass those areas of the state.

RAEANN CHRISTENSEN, PBS UTAH: Okay, so we do have some reporters joining us remotely, and we would like to go to Jacob with KSL.com. So go ahead, Jacob, with your question.

JACOB KLOPFENSTEIN, KSL.COM: Good morning, Governor. There's been a lot of talk about the universities right now, down in Provo and Orem, but outside of that in K-12 schools some of them are having to close down because of COVID cases and modifying their schedules. Do you have any advice or what can we do to avoid further outbreaks and problems in K-12 schools?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, again, everything we're doing to slow down the spread, stop the spread, is designed to help us mitigate as best we can and have that optimal place. It really is a matter of everybody changing their behavior, and that includes those who are involved with education. The students have certain behavior that we had hoped they would follow, that includes mask wearing. We would hope that we have a plan in place that makes sense to protect the teachers. Again, mask wearing has actually given them comfort that they can show up because they, based on the data, are the most vulnerable people in the classroom as the teacher. Any faculty members, the principal, et cetera. Again, it's certainly age a reliable when it comes to who gets the infection.

So I know that we need to make sure that we're more consistent. I think part of the concerns I hear from the teachers is, we had rules in place that I have not always been followed as we understood them to be. I've met with the teachers association here just yesterday to talk about some of their concerns. If we need to modify the plan, which has been developed by a set of values and guidelines that have come from our health department and our experts in medical and science, if there's areas there that need to be modified in the plan to make it more consistent, enforceable, that's under discussion right now.

But this has definitely been a kind of learning as you go experience. We have learned, we've improved, and we're getting better. This is, again, a new school year, and we're learning as we go on this issue too. And I think it takes everybody's cooperation, patience, and we know there's inconvenience, we know there's sacrifice that's been required, but that's how we're going to get through this and have a safe environment for our kids to get a good education, hopefully inside the building.

But in the meantime, if we have to do online or hybrid education, the local people can make those decisions that's best for that community and for that school district. And we hope we have a cooperation from parents and students and teachers working together in a collaborative spirit to get the optimum place we can for education.

JED BOAL, KSL: Governor, people have looked towards the day that we have a vaccine as a day that we will have some relief from this deadly virus. You had a recent poll show that only half of all Utahns said that they would get an FDA approved vaccine for COVID-19. And another quarter said that they're not sure. So a full quarter of our population says that they're not willing to get the vaccine when it arrives. With this kind of divisiveness that we've already seen with masks, how do we expect our state to implement an effective vaccine program when one is available?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, again, I think it's an educational process. I expect there are some out there that are concerned about taking a vaccine that hasn't been duly tested appropriately and they don't want to be the Guinea pigs up front. I know that the intent certainly is to make sure that whatever comes out of the FDA, and I've talked to Steve Hahn about this very issue, has been thoroughly tested and vetted and so we have a safe vaccine that actually does the job, either therapeutically or inoculation so you'll be prevented from getting the coronavirus, the COVID-19.

Again, I think that's yet to be determined when we actually have a vaccine in place, whether you'll take it or not. We don't have everybody getting vaccinated for flu, but it's available there for them and that certainly helped us to slow it down. When we talk about, you hear the phrase, herd immunity, you know, some say, just let everybody get sick and that will develop it naturally. But that takes about 10 or 11 years, by the way and that's a little bit of a long time and that's probably an option, but not the best option. The best option would be if we could get herd immunity by vaccination and if you get 70% of the people that actually do get vaccinated, over time, you'll have that same kind of immunity.

So we'll have to wait and see. Again, I think it's a matter of education. There's fear out there, but there may become a time when I believe when people will fear the coronavirus more than they'll fear getting a shot.

JED BOAL, KSL: Quick follow up, sir, will you get the vaccine when it's available and approved by the FDA?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I would plan to do that, yes, I'm in that vulnerable age and clearly as we look at the data, the older you get the more vulnerable you are and the more likely you are to have a severe reaction to coronavirus. Therefore, if you can inoculate yourself against getting it that would be a wise step to take.

RAEANN CHRISTENSEN, PBS UTAH: Okay, Governor, we do have a question from Amy Joy with Deseret News. She would like to know, why hasn't a masked mandate been ordered for more crowded areas along the Wasatch Front? Or why has the Lieutenant governor said he has no choice but to follow your lead on masks? Is he not free to differ from you?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I would say that he certainly is free to differ from me, but what he is doing is following, as I am, the science that comes from our Unified Command. The recommendations come there based on data, based on science, based on the best medical advice we have, listening to our hospital administrators, our educators, our business community, all of those combined inform us as far as what policy we should have out there.

And so Spencer Cox is following that guidance, as he should be. And that's going to give us the best outcome we possibly have and the outcomes we see are in fact pretty good and they're certainly a balanced approach. Not every state's taken that approach, that's the approach we've taken. And I think it's the right one. What was your other question, Amy Joy, did I miss something 

RAEANN CHRISTENSEN, PBS UTAH: She would like to know why hasn't a mask mandate been ordered for the more crowded areas along the Wasatch Front?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, we have mask mandates that have been in place. Salt Lake County's put them in place in the entire County and that's the largest population we have in the area. So from the north to the south of Salt Lake County, to the east of the west, it's a mandate out there currently.

We do have the ability, if you have social distancing, which the medical people tell us is the best thing you can do. To have at least, you know, a separation as a minimum of six feet. That's the best thing you do, but if you can't social distance, then you ought to have a mask on. And a combination of both of them is probably even better.

So that's happening, we have Provo City which put a mask mandate on. I appreciate again, the Utah County commission led by Tanner Range and Nathan Ivy and the Utah County Health Department saying, we can do better too. It doesn't have to be a heavy handed approach, it's just let's make it the law. And I think most of our people are willing to follow the law. They may not like it, but they understand the reason behind it. And, again, as far as I know, in Salt Lake County, for example, I don't think anybody's been cited. It's been a very, velvet touch by the law enforcement people, which is how it should be.

But we see the results, is that the majority of the people in Salt Lake County are wearing masks. We have a high percentage in Davis and Weaver County wearing masks, the lowest percentages in Utah County. I think with this or mandate that's been put in place by the health department and the Utah County Commission that we'll see mask usage increase. That'll help us slow down the spread and hopefully turn the numbers back in the right direction and slow the spread. So we'll have to wait and see, but that's the intent and that's the belief and that's what the science would tell us. 

ARIELLE HARRISON, KUTV: Governor, Arielle Harrison with KUTV. So we've seen homecoming parties and celebrations with little to no masking or social distancing circulating around the state. Do you have a message or what's your message to these students and parents when it comes to these parties right now?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, I understand the motivation. It's out of love and concern for your children to have them to have a good experience. You know, they're that age and school, the socialization, the opportunities to interact with your classmates and your friends, make new friends, is a real legitimate issue. But we don't want to be penny wise and pound foolish. We've got to make sure that in fact, we teach our young people that sometimes things happen in life that make it a little inconvenient, and there's a sacrifice required.

Think of the people during World War II, all the sacrifice they made. Men going off to war, women have to step up in the marketplace, Rosie the Riveter, when they had to, in fact, ration gasoline, ration food, grow victory gardens. I mean, the sacrifice was significant in order to win that war.

Well, it's a little disappointing that we have today people saying, oh, having to wear a mask in crowded conditions, having to forego, you know, having the junior prom celebration or fans in the football games, that's too much of a sacrifice to ask of this generation. I hope that's not the case. That would be disappointing on many levels if it was. So parents, teach good principles, good values, that Utah stands for. We'll get through this war on the pandemic and we'll have a happier day in the future if we do it now. Again, doing it now, and as I said, a little pain now will save us a lot of pain later.

ARIELLE HARRISON, KUTV: Quick follow-up to that, Governor, is there more you feel in your position that health departments or local school districts can be doing to ensure that these parties are not happening, or in turn, keeping kids in some instances from learning.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: You know, we control our own destiny. Again, people, we can have laws in place and we do. We are a nation of laws. We believe in the rule of law and we try to in fact, follow the law, which is best for society. We're told to drive down the right side of the road with our automobiles. You can't just drive willy nilly. We have speed limits, we have seatbelt requirements. You know, we have smoking designated areas because secondhand smoke impacts the health of other people. We have rules and guidance on all this. You can't drink and drive under the influence of alcohol. I mean, it's part of our life.

We are asking people to do certain things and modify their behavior to help us win this war on the pandemic. I'm a little, I guess the biggest concern I have, or at least second biggest concern, I'm concerned about the spread of the virus which is impacting people's health and impacting our economy. But the thing that is most concerning to me right now is the divisiveness that I see out there in the marketplace. We have people out there purposely adding kerosene to the fire and becoming divisive when they ought to be saying, let's work together to find compromise, let's work together to find solutions to the problem, let's have an accommodation. 

We ought to all ask ourselves, what am I doing to help improve the situation? We ought to all look and say, I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Let's eliminate the divisiveness, the backbiting, the finger pointing, and say, together we can in fact solve this problem. But we might have to change our own behaviors and have our young people change their behaviors along the process, but it will be temporary until we can get a vaccine.

TAYLOR STEVENS, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, we've seen some schools with 15 cases of the coronavirus decide to go against state health department guidance and not close their doors for two weeks. Do you think that guidance needs to be more of a mandate?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I think we need to analyze whether it's the right policy. 15 in a class or in a school may be appropriate if you have a school of 500, it may not be appropriate if you have a school of 1,000. So proportionality ought to be a factor into that and that's part of the concern we have out there on those who think 15 is too easy to attain and close down the school entirely.

On the other hand, the teachers want to know, hey, I'm signing up to teach based on a set of circumstances I believe are going to be enforced. That's part of the discussion that's going on right now with the Teacher's Association, our local school boards, the superintendents and principals, to review the guidelines and see if they are appropriate and rational. And so there may be some modification of that, but what we can come up with should be enforced and I expect that that will.

RAEANN CHRISTENSEN, PBS UTAH: All right, thank you so much, governor, we are actually out of time now. I appreciate you joining us and all the reporters here in studio. We will see you back here next month for the Governor's Monthly News Conference.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: This has been the Governor's Monthly News Conference, an archive of transcripts, video, and audio is available online. Please visit PBSutah.org/governor.

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