SALT LAKE CITY — As coronavirus cases continue to rise in Utah’s “green” counties, where COVID-19 restrictions have been loosened, a study of sewage in one rural area shows the numbers there may be even higher than reported, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
COVID-19 was detected in multiple sewage treatment facilities in the Uinta Basin: Dutch John, Ashley Valley and Roosevelt. And in Dutch John, which is near Flaming Gorge at the Wyoming border, the virus levels were particularly high.
“It is concerning because we do not have any laboratory-confirmed cases in the Dutch John area,” TriCounty Health Officer Jordan Mathis said in a news statement, “but we are seeing the same levels of the virus as we are seeing in Roosevelt’s sewage treatment facility where we are seeing most of our laboratory-confirmed cases at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Thursday's COVID-19 report from the Utah Department of Health showed 210 Utah patients currently hospitalized — a number equaled only once before, on July 11, according to revised figures by UDOH. In total, 2,150 Utahns have been admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 — up 15 from Wednesday.
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