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Show A-8 The Park Record Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, May 16-19, 2020 Gov. Herbert relaxes coronavirus rules in much of state despite cases Gatherings of 50 allowed in yellow phase of response BRADY MCCOMBS LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — Utah will further relax coronavirus-related restrictions across much of the state, allowing team sports to resume, pools to open and groups of up to 50 people to gather, Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday. Stricter rules will remain in several areas, including Salt Lake City, West Valley City and areas around the tourist hot spots of Moab in southern Utah and ski-resort heavy Summit County. Advisories on practicing social distancing and using masks are expected to continue in spots moving from an “orange” moderate risk to a “yellow” low risk, Herbert said. The state has already allowed restaurants, salons and other businesses to reopen. Salt Lake County health officials said they asked to keep stricter rules on the entire county for another 10 days rather than only two cities, but state officials refused. Herbert, for his part, said that with testing on the increase and hospitals reporting plenty of patient capacity, it’s safe to further relax restrictions starting Saturday. Schools will remain closed. “I like the trend, I like the numbers, it gives me hope,” the Republican governor said. The coronavirus causes flulike symptoms that most people recover from, but it can be fatal, especially those with other health conditions. There have been at least 6,700 cases in Utah, and 75 deaths, officials said. Twenty-four of those deaths have been recorded in May after Herbert first relaxed restrictions, including allowing in-person dining at restaurants and for gyms and bars to reopen. The daily case count has increased in May to an average of 148 per day, up from 128 in April, but the positive rate of tests has remained fairly steady at about 4.2%, according to state figures. Utah has the fifth-lowest rate of confirmed deaths per 100,000 people, the seventh-lowest rate of positive tests and the seventh-highest rate of people tested per 1,000, according to The COVID Tracking Project. are navigating the turmoil in a language they don’t fully understand and without extended family or close friends to help. The Amiris arrived in Salt Lake City on March 24, about a week after states began shutting down schools and businesses to try to stop COVID-19 from spreading. After waiting three years for a visa, they ignored warnings from an airplane employee in Kabul that traveling to the U.S. during the pandemic would be dangerous. Amiri, his wife and their four children were the only ones on their final flight from Seattle to Salt Lake City. For them, it was worth the risk. While waiting for a special visa for Afghans and Iraqis who help the U.S. government, Amiri had feared that the Taliban would find out he worked for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and kidnap his family. “I knew the situation was very bad, but I had to decide for the (good) of my family,” Amiri, 39, said of the pandemic. “If my visa expired, they would not extend it.” Refugee aid organizations have pivoted from training families for work and school to teaching them how to apply for unemployment benefits and do schoolwork online. They’re dipping into emergency funds to pay for rent and food for families after losing federal dollars. “We’re instructing clients on how to navigate a food bank rather than navigating a career path,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Her organization, one of nine agencies that help refugees resettle in the U.S., has given emergency aid to more than 215 families facing job losses. Refugee families like the Amiris who arrived early this year or late last year are in particularly difficult situations because many don’t have the work history to quality for unemployment benefits or relief checks from the U.S. government, O’Mara Vignarajah said. Ana Lucia Ibarguen and her three children arrived as refugees to Claxton, Georgia, in July after fleeing gang violence in Colombia. She and her 20-year-old son began studying English and working at a clothing distribution center before the pandemic abruptly left them without jobs or a school to study the language. They applied for unemployment benefits but have yet to receive any money. Her son got $1,200 from the coronavirus relief bill, which helped pay rent in May. But Ibarguen, 39, doesn’t know how they’ll pay their bills in June if they can’t get work. “It’s very hard. Everything changed from one moment to the next,” Ibarguen said in Spanish. “This makes me more depressed and sad.” Some refugees who haven’t been laid off have jobs that put them at risk of infection, including as ride-hailing drivers, in restaurants and at meatpacking plants like the JBS USA factory in Greeley, Colorado, which has had an outbreak of at least 280 confirmed cases and seven deaths. In the Denver suburb of Aurora, Dr. P.J. Parmar sees many of those workers outside his New refugees are struggling to find their footing in US during pandemic Closed businesses and schools greet recent arrivals Get your subscription to The Park Record! Mail or Home delivery within Summit County (Includes a free Sunday Tribune and e-Edition subscription) 1 Year $56 2 Years $98 Mail delivery outside of Summit County (Includes a free e-Edition subscription) 1 Year $80 2 Years $138 Home Delivery within Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Wasatch Counties (Includes a free e-Edition subscription) 1 Year $80 2 Years $138 Call us today and ask for Lacy 435.649.9014 BRADY MCCOMBS Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — Afghan refugee Mahmood Amiri arrived in the United States more than a month ago, but his children are still waiting for their first day at school. They have yet to go to a mosque to meet other Muslim families. And Amiri is itching to get a job, but nobody knows how long that will take in a crashing economy. Starting a new life in America is never easy for refugees, but doing it during a pandemic has created more struggles, especially after the federal government cut off funding to help them resettle and suspended new arrivals indefinitely. Coronavirus restrictions have affected refugee families in the same ways as anyone else — job losses, child care challenges — but many Please see Refugees, A-9 Park City Community Bulletin Board Presented by Open for Business Now is the time to support your local business community by keeping your dollars in Park City and Summit County, Even with the current restrictions many establishments and organizations are still providing local goods and services. And by staying loyal to these critical members of our community you will help them through this challenging period. Check out the Park City Chamber Bureau community bulletin to find out what businesses are providing. If you are a business make sure you post your offering. Go to parkrecord.com and click the “Open for business” button on the nav bar or type bit.ly/prbulletin in your browser to see who you can support today! The Park City Chamber Bureau reminds you to diligently practice social distancing and alert your health care provider if you begin to experience symptoms of the COVID-19 virus. |