Which causes most Utah deaths?  other causes? suicide?  COVID-19? Open Utah now.

          Dear Governor Herbert, Please Reopen Utah today.  President Trump said if the number of Corona Virus cases now are less than 2 weeks ago, reopen.    Utah never had a curve to flatten. As of  April 16^th, after 50 days, of 29 counties,  23 counties have had no deaths from COVID-19.  12 counties have had no hospitalizations from COVID-19. [Source – www.Coronavirus.utahgov/case-counts April 17, 2020 noon.]  

         State wide we can compare COVID-19 deaths to other deaths.  The most recent Utah death count available is 2015. The records for Covid-19 started February 28, which makes the time thru April 16 a total of 50 days.  All deaths Utah state wide from all causes for  50 days averages 2,374 deceased, and COVID-19 recorded  21 deaths, or one hundredth the average deaths all causes.  Deaths from  suicide in Utah would average 84 deaths for the same length of time,  but COVID-19 is a fourth of  that.   So, you can see Governor, COVID-19 has not approached any other death gauge.   The likelihood of suicide is four times as many as have actually died in Utah of COVID-19. Doctor Birx has said if a person dies, and has any COVID-19, they are a COVID-19 death, even if they were severely compromised by life threatening pre existing conditions.  So it is disingenuous to say COVID-19 was a cause of death, when it was only a factor.  But we can deal with the records as reported.

         Governor, did you know state wide, the health department has closed Optometry desks in Costco, while the rest of the store is open? The Saint George Costco  Optometry lady said they had to put all frames away. I guess hide them. Did you know my Dentists said the Dental Association, I assume the American Dental Association,  ordered my Dentists to stop hygiene, teeth cleanings, and the Dentists have fired or laid off hundreds of hygienists statewide? Our outdoor parks and swimming pools are closed. Our gyms are closed, even when they weren’t being used?  The libraries are closed. Southwest symphony cancelled its season. Tuacahn closed its spring performances, and is not scheduled to reopen until June. Utah hospitals have fired hundreds of  health care people for an unfounded fear that there would not be enough beds.  But their business stopped, dried up, ceased. Stop all elective health care, they were told. Stop cataract repair, no knees or hips, treat everything online. How do you treat that on line?  My cousin deferred his surgery. Governor are you a part of this conversation with the Health Departments? 

         The term ‘essential’ and ‘non essential’ workers was a term, shall I say joke, used by the  Federal Government when it shut down. Essential employees would come to the office and keep the lights on. The rest, or non essential employees, stayed at home and worked at home. In the several shut downs of the Federal government over the past 2 decades, due to Budget disagreements between the parties, the non essential workers always got paid. Washington D.C. stayed open. Only Federal Parks closed, such as those in Southern Utah, to pinch and squeeze the businesses offering services for the tourists, so they would complain to their Senators and Representatives.

In these Utah counties without any hospitalizations for COVID-19, or no deaths, the local Health Departments are still requiring mitigation applications to reopen stores and salons, to be evaluated, and the health department will get back to the stores in a few days. Mitigation for what? after 7 weeks, for 21 counties there are no deaths with COVID-19, although two thousand deaths for all other causes.  Half of those have not had one hospitalization.

         Governor did you know it takes 15 days to make the profit from the loss of revenue for one day?  So if the business is closed 6 weeks, it will take 90 weeks, nearly two years to make up the difference? Every day counts, and every day Utah stays closed will take an addition half month to recover.  

The Health Department’s resources  would do better to go after tobacco and alcohol abuse, drug addiction, instead of reviewing mitigation reopen forms. A new name for red tape.

Open Utah now, this afternoon. If not this afternoon, tomorrow morning.

Source for case counts – www.Coronavirus.utahgov/case-counts Overview of COVID-19 Surveillance

This report is updated daily at approximately 1:00 p.m. Information on COVID-19 cases changes rapidly, and this report may not reflect updates made after 1:00 p.m. by local health departments or health care systems. 
Health Resource Line  1-888-222-2542. 

23 counties with no deaths by jurisdiction –

Bear River district, (Box Elder, Cache, Rich); 

Central District (Juab, Millard,  Piute, Sanpete, Sevier Wayne); 

San Juan, 

Southeast Utah District  (Carbon, Emery Grant); 

Southwest Utah District  (Beaver, Garfield,  Iron,  Kane, Washington [4 of these counties have no COVID-19 death, 1 death COVID-19 reported in the combined SW health district]);  

Summit, 

Tooele, 

Tricounty (Daggett, Duchesne, Uinta  Hq in Vernal); 

Weber – Morgan (District) the 2 counties jointly report 1 COVID-19 death.

Local health districts, names, counties, Director and contact https://ualhd.org

The time frame for recording COVID-19 was given as February 28 to April 17, or 50 days. Source. www.SEUHealth.com  

Source for deaths all causes and suicides. National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 66 Number 6 November 27, 2017, Table 12 Number of deaths, death rates, and age-adjusted death rates for major causes of death United States 

2015 Utah Deaths all causes 17,334 source  NVSR 66;6 p. 49.

47.5 deaths a day; 332 a week; 1444 a month.

Feb 28-29 x 2 = 95; March 31 31 = 1,472; April 17 17 x 47.5 = 807 deaths;

Total 2374 deaths

Utah’s suicide  630 [2015], Source NVSR 66;6 p. 50

1.7 deaths a day; 12 deaths per week; 52 per month

Feb = 3;  March  31 =  52; April 17 = 29 deaths; Total 84 

The Public Health Indicator Based Information System (IBIS)  writes ‘From 2016 to 2018, with an average of 647 suicides per year.’ Source 

https://ibis.health.utah.gov/ibisph-view/

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