There was a gathering of entities in both Carbon and Emery counties that got together to discuss the rising numbers of COVID cases. Those in attendance were Castleview Hospital, Southeast Health Department, Carbon School District and both Emery and Carbon County Commissioners. Carbon County Commissioner Larry Jensen was in attendance and wanted to discuss the details of the meeting.

“With the stress on the hospital state-wide it was determined that we probably ought to get together to have a briefing and so we did that. This meeting was really not to put anybody in panic mode but just as an update and try to make sure we’re all doing what we can to keep everyone safe,” said Commissioner Jensen. The main concern for both Emery and Carbon County Commissioners is the safety and well-being of all their citizens.

At the time of the interview, there was six to eight individuals from Carbon and Emery Counties were admitted to the hospital. This currently is not putting a strain on Castleview Hospital but for other hospitals in the state, they are under stress. “It appears like the system is kind of out there on the edge of, we are taking care of everybody. But the worry is what if we have enough of an outbreak that there’s too many that come to the hospital, and then those poor doctors there are going to have to make decisions on who they accept and send others home. The consensus of the group is was that for all of us to be more careful than maybe we currently are,” stated Commissioner Jensen. “Careful” meaning getting the vaccine if you choose, wearing masks when close to others, washing hands/sanitizing, social distancing and staying home when you don’t feel well.

If anyone has questions about the local COVID numbers or other concerns about COVID they are urged to contact the Southeast Health Department. “The health department are the experts and they have a lot of help to draw their research and so we are in good hands. We just need to shake off our feelings of we got vaccinated and we’re ok. We’re seeing that this variant now comes back and a few people can get it even with the vaccine but they are not as ill potentially as if they had not received the vaccine,” said Commissioner Jensen. The Southeast Health Department has a section on their website https://www.seuhealth.com/ dedicated to providing the public with the most recent COVID information.