SALT LAKE CITY — Public health officials worry that massive demonstrations over the weekend could trigger a new wave of coronavirus infections across the country and here in Utah.
Protesters packed the streets, many not wearing face masks and not practicing social-distancing.
Utah had already seen an uptick in the number of new daily cases.
Sunday was the fourth day in a row with more than 200 new COVID-19 cases.
Before that, new cases had only reached 200 in a day once. 203 new cases were reported on April 2, almost two months ago.
The latest Utahn to die of COVID-19 was a Wasatch County resident, under the age of 65.
The number of positive cases in Utah stands at 9,797.
235 new cases were reported on Wednesday June 27, 330 on Thursday, 272 on Saturday and 264 on Sunday.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall worries that this weekend's protests will only add to those numbers.
"We are constantly worried about COVID19 as Salt Lake City, particularly 84116, is the most intense concentration of positive cases in the state of Utah. You know that Salt Lake City is the only city that's still in the orange phase in the entire state," Mendenhall said. "Absolutely we are worried. Particularly after those last couple of days with very high numbers of positive cases reporting."
While most increases reported over the weekend came from Salt Lake County, Utah County also saw a new spike.