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ST. GEORGE — Since the Labor Day weekend, 15 people have died in Southern Utah of COVID-19 — the most of any five-day period during the pandemic.
The Utah Department of Health said that includes a 15- to 24-year-old in Iron County, though a spokesperson with the local Southwest Utah Public Health Department said it hasn't verified that death yet.
In an interview with St. George News while attending the Tuesday groundbreaking of the new Cedar Breaks Visitors Center, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said his message to Southern Utahns is that the COVID-19 situation is more dire than they may think, but that he can't do anything else to fix it. He puts that responsibility on Southern Utahns.
"It's worse than you think it is right now, and it's especially worse if you're unvaccinated," Cox said. "We're overwhelming our hospitals, which is going to impact everyone. If you have a car accident, if you need your appendix removed, if you need an emergency room, it's going to be tough. My message really is, please, please, please get vaccinated."
Since returning to Salt Lake City from his Southern Utah visit, Cox has been meeting with several caucuses of state legislators looking into possible additional measures to quell down a pandemic that — as far as hospitalizations and deaths — has reached some of its worst levels in Southern Utah.
Read the full article at St. George News.
KSL's Southern Utah News Section
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