SALT LAKE CITY – As health officials continue to call for caution as Utah fights coronavirus pandemic, many communities continue New Year’s Eve designed to sound safe in what everyone hopes will be a much better year than 2020 .
There are still opportunities to catch fireworks and events on Thursday night. But, as Intermountain doctor Dr. Edward Stenehjem said in a question and answer Wednesday, Utahns should take the same recommended precautions before Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“This holiday season, our recommendation is to gather only with people in your home,” Stenehjem said. “Do not invite others who may have the virus, either symptomatic or asymptomatic, who may transmit the virus. This is what we also recommended on Thanksgiving Day, in accordance with the recommendations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Our community transmission rate is so high. “
The seven-day average of positive COVID-19 tests in Utah is 25%. “There’s just a lot of COVID-19 still in our communities,” Stenehjem said.
The state has gathered its own holiday-safe holiday tips on its coronavirus website.
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart … This year, to save me from tears, please distance yourself and wear a mask. Please do not give COVID to anyone in particular.
– Utah COVID-19 Response (@UtahCoronavirus) December 29, 2020
“The more people in different households interact with a person at a meeting, the closer the physical interaction is and the longer the interaction lasts, the greater the risk that a person with COVID-19 will spread it to others,” whether or not he has symptoms, “says the state.
It recommends that meetings be kept as small as possible and that participants wear indoor masks, at a physical distance, practice good hygiene and not participate in events if they are ill or have been exposed to COVID-19.
Modified events
Last Hurray! From the Gateway, the holiday is only a few years old, but it had already turned into the biggest New Year’s party in the state. Live entertainment and fireworks will return this year, but organizers are encouraging people to connect online rather than appear in person.
There will be live people at the event, as The Gateway has sold a limited number of tickets for families to enjoy the outdoor show in the main market area. The parties will be physically spaced, masked and assigned a seat; however, tickets to the event are sold out. Interested Utahns may continue to be placed on a waiting list if a registered party is unable to attend.
For everyone else, The Gateway encourages Utahns to broadcast the action live from home. “People can log on to lasthurrahslc.com or atthegateway.com and be able to see the band’s shows, countdowns and fireworks,” said Jacklyn Briggs, marketing manager for Gateway. “There will be live photos from The Gateway, so people can have a local experience from the comfort and safety of their home.”
The entertainment will start at 23:00 with music from the local act The Cool, with Bri Ray.
Some Gateway dining options will be open later, including HallPass and Dave & Buster’s, as well as The Store grocery store. “Anyone who comes down is welcome to go to open merchants,” Briggs said. “However, just as a reminder, they will reach capacity, because they have a certain amount of space that, once filled, will not allow more people to enter. So this is the first come, first served. ”
The plaza area will be closed to ticket holders only.
This is the gift you can give us. Wear a mask, distance yourself socially, reduce your contacts so that you do not contribute to the continuous transmission of this virus.
-Dr. Edward Stenehjem, Intermountain physician
Elsewhere in Utah, Provo hosts a fireworks display with performances at 9 p.m. and midnight. The Living Planetarium Aquarium hosts a “Noon Year’s Eve” event, there’s a holiday laser show that continues at the Maverik Center, and the popular Thanksgiving Luminaria light show has a sold-out New Year’s Eve event with fireworks .
Of course, there will be parties and gatherings and crowded bars. But there are safer options this New Year’s Eve, and as Stenehjem said during the Intermountain presentation, the best way to thank Utah health workers this holiday season “is not to receive COVID and not pass COVID to anyone else.” “.
“This is the gift you can give us,” he said. “Wear a mask, distance yourself socially, reduce your contacts so that you do not contribute to the continuous transmission of this virus.”
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Graham Dudley