Governor announces tentative move to reduced coronavirus alert level as early as May 1

April 23, 2020 Utah Channel 3

ST. GEORGE — Utah will be moving to a less stringent directive toward businesses for coronavirus prevention as early as May 1, including a limited reopening of sit-down service in restaurants, Gov. Gary Herbert announced Friday.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, left, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, listens during a press conference with legislative, community, and business leaders Friday, April 17, 2020, at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City, Utah. | Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News/Pool, via Associated Press, St. George News

Herbert said during the daily coronavirus press conference that much of the state will move from the red, or urgent, phase that has seen orders closing sit-down restaurant service and recommended other closures.

“Because there are many moving pieces, I want the people of Utah that I plan to change by as early as May 1. We want people to be ready,” Herbert said. “This does not mean going back to business as usual. But we may see some opportunities for businesses to open up.”

The color phases come from the “Utah Leads Together 2.0 plan” formulated after a mandate by the Utah Legislature, which lays out a color-code system for when the state, a county or a city is recommended to move into a different phase of reopening the economy. The color codes are red, for the high-risk state the entire state is in now; orange for moderate risk, where some closures are relaxed for non-high-risk individuals; yellow for low-risk to everyone but high-risk individuals; and green with normal risk to everyone but high-risk individuals. The complete plan can be found at this link.

Moving into an orange phase would mean restaurants could allow dine-in services as long as they take substantial distancing and cleanliness precautions.

In this file photo, customers dine at the Painted Pony in St. George. Restaurants and bars in Washington County and across the state were ordered to suspend dine-in operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in a heavy economic hit for these and other businesses, St. George, Utah, Aug. 8, 2019 | File photo by Mikayla Shoup, St. George News

It would also recommend allowing for some haircutting and other personal services to reopen, though it would have to be under strict hygiene protocols. The stylist and the customer would both need to wear face coverings and there needs to be meticulous monitoring of symptoms.

Also in the orange phase, fitness centers and gyms are recommended to be closed but can open if they follow strict social distancing and cleaning guidelines. Summit Athletic Club, the St. George-based fitness center, is among those already following those recommendations.

Other businesses that would have soft openings recommended would be hotels and tourism, which would have to keep buffets closed and have a strict cleaning arrangement in shared spaces and have all staff wear face coverings. Some personal services would also be opened up with strict distancing and cleanliness guidelines.