SALT LAKE CITY — Right now, Utah doesn't have the ability for every sick person to see if they have COVID-19.
FOX 13’s Bob Evans learned that firsthand Thursday when he went to make sure the tickle in his throat was not the novel coronavirus.
Bob did exactly what he was supposed to do: Call the coronavirus hotline and his personal physician, both saying he should be triaged and then figure out if he needed the test.
But thankfully for Bob, because he didn’t match every symptom and had no contact with known patients, it was a quick breathing treatment and a clean bill of health.
The state is however addressing the shortage of tests. Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox says the state is on a trajectory that will allow them to test far more patients — up to 1,000 per day, including “drive up testing.”
Utah has not yet had any known cases of “community spread,” where the virus was transmitted from person to another within the state. All documented cases came from out of the state or country, health care officials believe.
