SALT LAKE CITY – After taking Christmas off, the Utah Department of Health returned on Saturday and reported 3,489 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight new deaths in the state.
About 2,498 of those cases were reportedly reported on Friday, the health department said, and 991 are as of today. That number is well below the state average in recent months, but has probably been reduced by the closure of the COVID-19 test sites during the holiday.
With the update, Utah has seen 264,078 confirmed cases and 1,212 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began. The new case number came when an additional 12,956 Utahns were tested.
In an e-mail, the health department said that all eight Utahns who died were hospitalized at the time. They included:
- A man from Weber County between 65 and 84 years old
- A Weber County man over 85
- A Box Elder County man between 45 and 64
- A Utah County man between 65 and 84
- Davis County woman between 65 and 84 years old
- Salt Lake County woman between 45 and 64 years old
- Millard County woman between 65 and 85 years old
- Washington County woman over 85
There are currently 481 Utahns hospitalized due to COVID-19, including 172 in intensive care. That’s less than 559 Utahns hospitalized a week ago.
Last week, the state recorded an average of 2,153 new cases reported per day and a positive test percentage of 24%.
The health department says 16,924 utahns have already received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Frontline health workers are getting the vaccine first.
Methodology:
The test results now include data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive results from the COVID-19 test are reported to the health department immediately after they are confirmed, but negative test results can take 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported by the Utah Department of Health each day includes all cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the Utah outbreak, including those who are infected, those who have recovered from the disease and those who have died.
Recovered cases are defined as anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 three or more weeks ago and has not died.
Referral hospitals are Utah’s 16 hospitals capable of providing the best COVID-19 healthcare.
Deaths reported by the state typically occurred two to seven days before they were reported, according to the health department. Some deaths can be even older, especially if the person is from Utah, but died in another state.
The health department reports deaths from confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases according to the case definition outlined by the State Council and Territorial Epidemiologists. Death counts are subject to change as case investigations are completed.
For deaths reported as deaths from COVID-19, the person would not have died if they did not have COVID-19, according to the health department.
The data included in this story mainly reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit your local health district’s website.
More information about Utah’s health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
The information is from the Utah Department of Health and coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts. For more information on how the Utah Department of Health compiles and reports COVID-19 data, visit coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts and scroll down to the “Data Notes” section at the bottom of the page.
Graham Dudley