On Nov. 20, 1918, School officials were eager to reopen their classrooms. Salt Lake City business and community leaders proposed methods to stem the rising cases of influenza by staggering transit hours and isolating cases, as well as not allowing large numbers of people in stores and restaurants.

Superintendent Ernest Smith hoped that all the high school students would return to the classes once schools reopened. The fear was that many had taken the impromptu “vacation” created by the closure order to obtain jobs. That same day, a committee of five businessmen was appointed to help devise measures to combat the epidemic that would be both effective as well as amenable to the business community. The group believed that the isolation of cases would be most effective. It also proposed staggering business hours to prevent crowding in streetcars and shops.

City and state health officials approved the plan and put it into effect on the morning of November 22. In addition to these staggered business hours, passenger limits were placed on streetcars (75 for large cars, and 50 for small ones), and shops were prohibited from holding or advertising sales. Over the course of the next week, as November gave way to December, the epidemic situation in Salt Lake City seemed to improve slowly.