Utah's case counts are decreasing — the rolling seven-day average for positive tests is 10,652 per day and the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of tests is 41.3% when all results are included.

But state health department spokesman Tom Hudachko insists that the latest COVID-19 surge hasn't peaked yet.

Why not?

1. Utah's numbers vs. other states. New COVID-19 infections in Utah increased 191% over the past two weeks, compared to an increase of 62% nationwide over the same time period, according to data compiled by The New York Times. 
2. Case count accuracy. It's likely that many people who have COVID-19 haven't been tested, whether because they were asymptomatic or because of testing limitations. Some of those limitations include at-home test kits not being reported to the state and long lines at state testing sites.

In Utah and around the country, hospitals are being deluged with COVID-19 because even though a smaller percentage of cases may be serious, there are so many more people who are sick.

Lawmakers received hundreds of emails in support of the independent redistricting commission. Why didn’t they listen?

Every 10 years, the Utah Legislature redraws political boundaries based on the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

2018: Better Boundaries, a citizen initiative that narrowly passed, established the Independent Redistricting Commission, with the goal of preventing partisan gerrymandering.

2020: The Utah Legislature reached a compromise with Better Boundaries organizers. The deal made the independent commission an adviser to state lawmakers, who have the ultimate decision of which maps to approve.

2021: The Legislative Redistricting Committee voted to approve its own maps, rejecting the maps proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission. The Utah Legislature voted to approve the maps, as well, and Governor Spencer Cox declined to veto them.

The Deseret News obtained hundreds of emails Utahns sent to lawmakers in support of the Independent Redistricting Commission's maps, while a much smaller percentage of emails to lawmakers approved of the Legislative Redistricting Committee's maps.

Read more from Kyle Dunphey.

More in Politics

• 2022 Utah Legislature Day 1: Lawmakers swiftly lock crosshairs on local COVID-19 restrictions (Deseret News)
• Opinion: Lawmakers are wrong to remove local authority over mask mandates (Deseret News)
• Mitt Romney on voting rights bill: President Joe Biden, Democrats venturing into ‘deep hysteria’ (Deseret News)

FROM OUR SPONSOR VOICES UTAH

Conversations with today's most inspirational and influential voices

Join Deseret News and Utah Business in this VIP limited engagement series featuring Mike Conley, Joe Ingles and more. Attend for personal meet and greets, photo sessions and intimate conversations with the voices who have engaged and captured our attention. Buy tickets for the April 12 event.

COVID

• Fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot can’t stop omicron, but it can help, study says (Deseret News)
• Why ‘mild’ COVID symptoms aren’t what you think they are (Deseret News)

Faith

• How to combat antisemitism in your office (Deseret News)
• Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: How 2 car accidents demonstrate the power of forgiveness, faith (Deseret News)

Southern Utah

• Cases for 3 Southern Utah men charged in Jan. 6 Capitol breach linger in court (St. George News)
• Washington County offers free program protecting property owners from fraud (St. George News)

Northern Utah

• 19 schools in Davis School District to go online due to COVID-19 (The Standard-Examiner)
• Utah State University museum receives $1M in grants for Art Research and Education Center (The Herald Journal 🔒)

Wasatch Front

• Salt Lake International Airport breaks record for firearm discoveries in 2021 (KUTV)
• Fully vaccinated at the University of Utah means a booster, too
  (Deseret News)

The West

• As populations grow, so does the need for wildlife crossings
  (KUER)
• Utah’s snowpack is better than last year, but officials say consistency is key to ending drought (ParkRecord.com)

The Nation

• Exxon Mobil pledges to have net zero emissions by 2050 (Deseret News)
• AT&T and Verizon will pause the new 5G plan. Here’s why (Deseret News)

The World

• Did China’s population peak in 2021? What does that mean for the country’s economic growth? (Deseret News)
• Who betrayed the Anne Frank family? Here’s what we know now (Deseret News)

Trending

• An exhibit about quilting is coming to Utah (Deseret News)
• Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard. Here’s what that means for your gaming (Deseret News)

Video analysis: What to make of the Lakers’ fourth quarter offensive rebounds against the Jazz

After holding the Lakers to just six offensive rebounds through three quarters, the Jazz allowed four in the fourth quarter.

Was that really the problem in the Jazz’s loss?

Read more from Sarah Todd.

See the sports TV schedule for this week.

New With:

• BYU Cougars: Why BYU basketball just experienced ‘a slice of how it’s going to feel’ when it joins the Big 12
• Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell sidelined with concussion symptoms