COVID-19 in Utah, December 2020: A tragic milestone, and the vaccines start to arrive

The “dark winter” we were warned about has begun in Utah, with a rise in COVID-19 cases and a tragic milestone — 1,000 Utahns dead from the virus — that we blew past without blinking.

I wrote about the state crossing the 1,000 mark in fatalities in a story that posted Dec. 10. The story recalled the lives of some of the people who died, and considered the stresses suffered by morticians and funeral directors who are helping loved ones handle this unexpected and particularly lonely form of dying.

By the end of December, that death toll had risen to 1,269 Utahns. Dec. 31 also marked a new single-day record for COVID-19 cases, with 4,672 people testing positive for the virus.

The good news in December was the arrival of the first vaccines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In The Salt Lake Tribune, I and my colleagues chronicled the arrival of the first Pfizer vaccine shipments, the first health care workers receiving those doses, the first shipments of the Moderna vaccine, and its distribution to rural hospitals and nursing homes.

I’ve also worked on stories that debunk the myths about who will get the vaccine in the rollout’s Phase 1, and detail the changes to the plans in Phase 2. And I wrote, after a Christmas that had one prominent doctor worried about a case surge, about state officials admitting that the rollout has been slower than they had hoped.

The new year doesn’t mean the COVID-19 pandemic is over. But there are signs of hope that, if the vaccine rollout can speed up, that things will improve. Fingers crossed.