Utah records 2nd-most COVID-19 cases as surge continues

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah reported its second-highest daily number of new coronavirus cases Thursday as the state deals with a troubling surge that has already led the state's Republican governor to enact a face mask requirement at certain state buildings and pause before lifting more business restrictions.

State figures show that the 590 new COVID-19 cases are the second-most since the pandemic began, behind only the 643 tallied Saturday.

The state has averaged 503 cases per day over the last week.

That is more than double the 200-per-day rate the state's epidemiologist recommended that state should be at by July 1 to avoid having to shutdown the economy.