SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly a year into the pandemic, the Utah Department of Health announced it will change its COVID-19 Transmission Index.
Starting Tuesday, UDOH will change to the "test over test" metric to determine levels of transmission in the 7-day average percent metric, instead of the "people over people" version it has been using since last spring.
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UDOH officials say the Transmission Index will shift lower because the "test over test" percent positivity metric skews lower than the "people over people" metric.
Because of the adjustment, the criteria for determining which level of transmission a Utah country resides will change:
A 7-day average percent positivity of:
- Greater than 10% will belong to the “HIGH” transmission category
- Between 5.1%-9.9% will belong to the “MODERATE” transmission category
- 5% or less will belong to the “LOW” transmission category
UDOH also announced that public gathering requirements in areas of “moderate” transmission will be changed.
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Counties in the "moderate" transmission level can now allow public gatherings, such as live events, movie theaters, sporting events, weddings, recreation, and entertainment to occur with side-by-side seating "as long as the event host completes the event template and all patrons are wearing masks, are assigned seating, and attest to not having any COVID-19 symptoms or exposures in the past 14 days."