Utah governor blasts shooting toward agency

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday he is “disgusted” after someone shot at a state health department office in what he called an attempt to intimidate public health employees.

The agency said someone shot at its office overnight in the Salt Lake City suburb of Millcreek with what appeared to be a pellet gun. The vandalism occurred the night before the state reported its highest daily COVID-19 case count on Friday.

“I am disgusted by the attempts to intimidate public health workers,” Herbert said in a statement.

Photos shared with Fox 13 show a glass door and windows were damaged. No one was injured in the shooting.

The state health department reported a daily record for confirmed coronavirus cases Friday with another 2,292 Utah residents infected. Utah also surpassed the milestone of 600 deaths from the coronavirus, just three weeks after passing 500 deaths.

The state also issued an emergency alert on mobile phones warning about the record number of cases and urging Utah residents in high-transmission areas to follow mandatory mask orders and rules that curtail social gatherings to 10 or fewer people.

In the past week, Utah’s positivity average has increased from 15.8 percent to 18.2 percent, according to state data. The weekly average for new cases per day has increased from 1,355 to 1,622. State health officials have said that such a high positivity rate indicates the numbers of infection are far higher.

Herbert said people shouldn’t “become numb” to these numbers and the dire impact they will have on those infected and their families. He said Thursday’s new cases alone will likely result in 115 hospitalizations and 11 deaths based on Utah’s hospitalization and fatality rates.