Coronavirus updates: Utah reports 253 new cases; BYU students return for first time since March

By KSL.com Staff | Updated - Aug. 31, 2020 at 9:49 p.m. | Posted - Aug. 31, 2020 at 6:21 a.m.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Here are the latest updates on COVID-19 from Utah and around the world.

If you’re on a mobile device and can’t see the updates below, click on this link.

Monday, 09:41 pm

BYU students return with mask requirements on, off campus

Students and faculty returned to class at Brigham Young University for the first time since March, with new mask requirements on- and off-campus under Provo’s new mask mandate.“I’m still getting used to the masks,” said Hayden Borg, now in his second year at BYU. “But I don’t think it will inhibit the learning aspect.”The BYU experience may not look or feel exactly how they left it in March, but for the first time since then, it’s more than an online portal. Masks are a requirement inside buildings and when distancing from others outside isn’t possible.— Matt Rascon, KSL TV

Monday, 09:12 pm

US just topped 6M coronavirus cases in about 7 months — what happens next is up to you, Birx says

Just over seven months ago, no one in the US had a confirmed case of COVID-19. On Monday, the US topped 6 million cases of coronavirus, which has killed over 183,000 people and left many young adults with long-term problems.But there's a bit of good news: "As a nation, we are clearly doing better now on the last day of August than we were on the first day of August," said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute."But there are still parts of the country where things are both bad and even getting worse. In the Dakotas, in Kansas and other states, we still see a lot of cases. And as a nation, we're still seeing a lot of cases of coronavirus. So progress, but we have a long way to go."— CNN

Monday, 08:39 pm

A Zoom Thanksgiving? Summer could give way to a bleaker fall

Cassie Docking, 44, an urgent care nurse in Seattle, is telling her parents — both cancer survivors — that Thanksgiving will be by FaceTime only.“We all want to get to 2021," she said, “and if that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll do.”Caitlin Joyce’s family is forging ahead with a holiday feast. They plan to set up plywood tables on sawhorses in a large garage so they can sit 6 feet apart.“We’ll be in our coats and our sweaters,” said Joyce, 30, of Edmonds, Washington, who plans to travel to her grandparents’ home in Virginia. “It will be almost like camping.”One widely cited disease model projects 2,086 U.S. deaths per day by Thanksgiving, more than double compared with today.— Associated Press

Monday, 08:03 pm

Experts call for independent commission separate from FDA to review COVID-19 vaccines

Citing criticism of government agencies and increasing public distrust of vaccines, several prominent physicians and experts are calling for the creation of an independent commission to review data from coronavirus vaccine trials before a vaccine is allowed on the market.Dr. Kathryn Stephenson, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, said she thought of the idea of an independent panel to increase trust in the vaccine after several colleagues told her they did not want to get a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available."I'm hearing this from my peers, from doctors and nurses. They're not anti-vaxxers. They're pro vaccine. They vaccinated their own children. But they are skeptical about this vaccine," said Stephenson, director of the clinical trials unit at the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.— CNN

Monday, 07:24 pm

Kids can carry coronavirus in respiratory tract for weeks, study suggests

Children can carry coronavirus in their noses and throats for weeks even if they don't show any symptoms, which might explain how the virus can spread silently, researchers in South Korea reported Friday."In this case series study, inapparent infections in children may have been associated with silent COVID-19 transmission in the community," the researchers wrote in a new study."Interestingly, this study aligns with adult data in which up to 40% of adults may remain asymptomatic in the face of infection," Dr. Roberta DeBiasi and Dr. Meghan Delaney, both of Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, wrote in an accompanying editorial. Neither was involved in the research.— CNN

Monday, 06:59 pm

Utah Military Academy in Lehi moves to temporary online school after confirmed COVID-19 cases

Cadets at Utah Military Academy Camp Williams campus in Lehi will move to online learning through Sept. 18 after nine staff members tested positive for COVID-19, the academy’s superintendent, Darren Beck, wrote in an email sent to staff obtained by KSL.The school started three weeks ago and Beck said the nine cases in staff have “been different from one another, but are creating challenges to running things as efficiently as we would like in person.”Starting Monday, Sept. 21, the school is planning to reopen to in-person classes.“UMA leadership does not make this decision lightly,” Beck wrote. “However, we felt you all should know this has come from hours of discussion and debate to do the most honorable thing for all of you and our cadets.”“Our present reality is that many of the adults teaching and working with our cadets are now having their health and wellbeing compromised, especially as they take on more demands caused by the current caseload we are seeing,” he continued. “We know that a fully online effort is not ideal, but we also know that potentially more adults and then cadets may contract this virus which will cause worse issues if we fail to act.”— Lauren Bennett, KSL.com

Monday, 03:28 pm

Alpine School District reports 67 active cases of COVID-19, including 41 students

Alpine School District officials say 41 students and 26 employees from the 91 schools and six general district office facilities have tested positive for the disease. Due to a cluster identified at Pleasant Grove High School, however, the school will begin operating under a "medium-level" hybrid model of alternating classes beginning Thursday, district spokesperson Kimberly Bird confirmed to KSL.No students will report to class Tuesday or Wednesday while the district meets with teachers to help prepare for and review the hybrid schedule, Bird added.Pleasant Grove was designated a high-impact city by the district, the city, and the Utah County health department. It will begin the hybrid instructional model Thursday, moving the Vikings from an all in-class setting to a medium-level alternating schedule based on last names.District spokesperson confirmed that Pleasant Grove High School will be shifted to a medium-level, or hybrid, schedule, though declined to say how many confirmed cases the school has reported. — Sean Walker, KSL.com

Monday, 01:13 pm

253 more COVID-19 cases, no new deaths reported in Utah Monday

Utah’s number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 253 from Sunday, with no new deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 388, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period is now 8.9%.— Jacob Klopfenstein, KSL.com

Monday, 07:21 am

ICYMI: Catch up on coronavirus developments from yesterday

Utah reported 448 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the second day in a row with no new deaths, on Sunday.

All 287 students living in four Utah State University dorms have been ordered to quarantine immediately after wastewater samples found elevated levels of COVID-19.

When a coronavirus vaccine comes on the market, people will likely need two doses, not just one — and that could cause real problems.

Read all of yesterday's updates here.

Coronavirus updates: Utah reports 253 new cases; BYU students return for first time since March

By KSL.com Staff | Updated - Aug. 31, 2020 at 9:49 p.m. | Posted - Aug. 31, 2020 at 6:21 a.m.

(John Minchillo, AP Photo, File)

BYU students return with mask requirements on, off campus

US just topped 6M coronavirus cases in about 7 months — what happens next is up to you, Birx says

A Zoom Thanksgiving? Summer could give way to a bleaker fall

Experts call for independent commission separate from FDA to review COVID-19 vaccines

Kids can carry coronavirus in respiratory tract for weeks, study suggests

Utah Military Academy in Lehi moves to temporary online school after confirmed COVID-19 cases

Alpine School District reports 67 active cases of COVID-19, including 41 students

253 more COVID-19 cases, no new deaths reported in Utah Monday

ICYMI: Catch up on coronavirus developments from yesterday

Most recent Coronavirus stories

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Coronavirus updates: Utah reports 253 new cases; BYU students return for first time since March

By KSL.com Staff | Updated - Aug. 31, 2020 at 9:49 p.m. | Posted - Aug. 31, 2020 at 6:21 a.m.

(John Minchillo, AP Photo, File)

BYU students return with mask requirements on, off campus

US just topped 6M coronavirus cases in about 7 months — what happens next is up to you, Birx says

A Zoom Thanksgiving? Summer could give way to a bleaker fall

Experts call for independent commission separate from FDA to review COVID-19 vaccines

Kids can carry coronavirus in respiratory tract for weeks, study suggests

Utah Military Academy in Lehi moves to temporary online school after confirmed COVID-19 cases

Alpine School District reports 67 active cases of COVID-19, including 41 students

253 more COVID-19 cases, no new deaths reported in Utah Monday

ICYMI: Catch up on coronavirus developments from yesterday

Most recent Coronavirus stories

FDA memo links 10 child deaths to COVID vaccines

Moderna says next-generation COVID-19 shot shows strong immune response in patients

Vaccine advisers abandon broad COVID-19 shot support

Related topics

More stories you may be interested in

FDA memo links 10 child deaths to COVID vaccines

How vulnerable are kids to long COVID?

China suggests COVID-19 originated in US in response to Trump allegation

KSL Weather Forecast