COVID-19 cases have continued to surge in both Idaho and Utah.

Idaho reported five consecutive days of more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases from Nov. 3 through Nov. 7, including a record 1,403 new cases on Saturday as the pandemic continued to sweep the state and the nation.

Idaho topped 1,000 cases again on Monday, when 1,266 new cases were confirmed, bringing the statewide total since the start of the pandemic to 74,227 cases, according to Idaho Public Health. Idaho has had 698 COVID-19 deaths, Idaho Public Health officials said.

The Idaho Statesman reported that Idaho’s seven-day moving average also reached an all-time high of just over 1,102 cases per day — an increase of more than 33 percent starting Nov. 1, when it was 824 per day.

The numbers come after a state panel of medical experts asked Republican Gov. Brad Little for a statewide mask mandate last week. Health officials worry that hospitals are running out of space for COVID-19 patients.

In Eastern Idaho Public Health’s territory, Lemhi County has been moved up to the critical risk level — meaning there’s been “large-scale community transmission, healthcare staffing has been significantly impacted and there have been multiple cases within communal settings like healthcare facilities, schools and mass gatherings.” Bonneville, Madison and Teton counties were at the high risk level.

In Southeast Idaho, Bannock, Bingham, Butte, Caribou, Franklin and Power counties were all classified at the high risk level.

On Monday, Southeast Idaho reported 112 new COVID-19 cases, including 56 cases in Bannock County, 45 cases in Bingham County, four cases in Caribou County, three cases in Power County, three cases in Franklin County and one case in Bear Lake County. The new cases brought the region’s total to 6,618 confirmed and probable cases since the start of the pandemic, with 5,786 patients having recovered. Public health officials also confirmed Monday that a Bingham County man in his 70s died of COVID-19, bringing the region’s total number of coronavirus deaths to 54.

On Sunday night, the governor of Utah declared a new state of emergency and announced new restrictions aimed at getting a handle on the current wave of the novel coronavirus overwhelming hospitals in the state.

“In our war against COVID-19, we need our doctors and our nurses, and now they need us,” Gov. Gary Herbert said in a prerecorded statement released Sunday night. “They are pleading for our help. The stakes are high. Lives are at risk as COVID-19 cases surge and we report record hospitalizations and new deaths day after day.”

Herbert announced four new restrictions effective Monday and lasting for at least the next two weeks:

– Masks or face coverings will be required in public. Businesses must require employees to wear masks and promote mask-wearing to patrons in visible signage.

– Residents may not participate in or host casual social gatherings with individuals other than those in their immediate household.

– All school sports and extracurricular activities are postponed for the next two weeks, with the exception of high school championship games and intercollegiate sports.

– College students who attend at least one in-person class a week or who live on campus housing must be tested for the virus weekly. Unlike the other new orders, which go into effect Monday, this provision is effective “as soon as possible, but no later than Jan. 1.”

In Cache County, Utah, the rate at which new cases are coming in is still increasing. As of Sunday, the rolling seven-day average of new cases reported daily was 114, the highest it’s ever been in the district, which includes Cache, Box Elder and Rich counties. There are about 1,900 estimated active cases in the district, more than 1,300 of them in Cache and only five of them in Rich.

Herbert said he understands that the new restrictions will require many families to cancel plans in the next two weeks and may alter holiday celebrations.

”Many of you will have questions about how to gather safely during the upcoming holidays,” Herbert said. “We will share with you recommendations and directives in the coming days.”

Herbert said public gatherings that flout mask-wearing and social distancing won’t be tolerated.

”State and local authorities will prosecute and hold accountable those who sponsor and organize such events and gatherings,” Herbert said. “Organizers will be subject to fines of up to $10,000 per occurrence.”

So far, officials with Cache County and the Bear River Health Department have been grappling with how to enforce coronavirus restrictions. BRHD released a statement on Thursday to “plead with event planners and venue organizers to ensure requirements from the state’s public health order are followed and not dismissed once the event begins.”

Herbert pushed back against the anti-mask propaganda common on social media and even among some politicians.

“Masks do not negatively affect our economy, and wearing them is the easiest way to slow the spread of the virus,” Herbert said. “Experts tell us that masks do not cause a shortage of oxygen to your brain or cause disease. We cannot afford to debate this issue any longer.

“Individual freedom is certainly important, and it is our rule of law that protects that freedom,” Herbert said. “Laws are put in place to protect all of us. That’s why we have traffic lights and speed limits and seat belts. And that’s why we now have a mask mandate.”

Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who was elected the state’s next governor last week, announced that the state is working on increasing testing among demographics such as young people, who research shows can often spread the virus without ever showing any symptoms.

”While we ask Utahns to do some heavy lifting, we’re also significantly ramping up targeted testing in age groups that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us are frequently asymptomatic,” he said.

The state is mobilizing additional National Guard resources to implement this testing, according to Sunday’s statement, beginning with the weekly testing for college students, “testing for students who participate in extracurricular activities, and eventual workplace testing for people 35 and younger, since this age group is most likely to be asymptomatic if they contract COVID-19.”