SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 4,597 on Thursday, with an additional 29 deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Seventeen of those deaths occurred before December 20, according to the health department. The state coroner’s office investigates each death to confirm whether the deaths were caused by COVID-19, which could include reviewing medical records or autopsies and could lead to delays in final determinations, the health department said.
The health department estimates that there are 53,597 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. The average number of positive cases per day for seven days is now 2,952, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period is now 32.7%.
The new figures indicate an increase of 1.6% in positive cases since Wednesday. Of the 1,790,189 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.6% tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests performed increased by 22,207 on Thursday, according to state data. Of these, 15,554 were tests from people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
A total of 68,030 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Utah, including 67,063 first doses and 967 second doses, data from the health department show. A total of 157,925 doses of vaccines have been sent to Utah so far, although health officials note that there is a data reporting delay of up to seven days from the time the doses are sent to the state, administered to patients and reported to the health department.
There are 537 patients with COVID-19 currently hospitalized in Utah, including 187 in intensive care, state data show. About 87% of the beds in the Utah intensive care unit were occupied on Thursday, including about 87% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 55% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied, state data show.
The 29 deaths reported on Thursday were:
- A man from Cache County who was between 45 and 64 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman from Davis County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term institution
- A woman from Davis County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman from Davis County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when she died
- A man from Davis County who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A man from Davis County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term institution
- An Iron County woman who was between 25 and 44 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A man from Millard County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between 65 and 84 years old and were not hospitalized when they died
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between 45 and 64 years old and were hospitalized when they died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 45 and 64 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- Salt Lake County woman aged 65 to 84 who was hospitalized when she died
- Two women from Salt Lake County over 85 years old and living in a long-term care center
- Two men from Salt Lake County between the ages of 65 and 84 and living in long-term care facilities
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was 65 to 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Utah county man who was aged 65 to 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Wasatch County woman who was over 85 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Washington County man who was over 85 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Washington County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A Washington County woman over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A Weber County man who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Weber County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A man from Weber County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Weber County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term institution
Thursday’s total gives Utah 297,317 confirmed cases, with 11,578 hospitalizations and 1,359 deaths from the disease. A total of 242,361 Utah COVID-19 cases are now estimated to be recovered, according to the health department.
According to Jess Gomez, associate director of media relations at Intermountain Healthcare, 1,330 Utahns died from COVID-19 in 2020, making it the third leading cause of death in the state, behind cancer and heart disease.
There is no COVID-19 press conference scheduled for Thursday. Utah Governor Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide an update at a press conference at 11:30 am on Friday, according to his office.
Hospitals ‘starting to fill again’
On Thursday, Intermountain Healthcare physician Dr. Eddie Stenehjem gave an update on how the pandemic is affecting his hospital system and how the vaccine is being distributed.
Stenehjem said the recent increase in case counts and positive test rates is “just what we expected” after the Christmas and New Year holidays, but that it is overloading hospital systems anyway.
“We hoped that our hospitalizations would have decreased further (before the holidays), dropped to a lower level, and then we would have more space to accommodate that increase,” said Stenehjem. “Unfortunately, it didn’t really happen. We had a little delay, we took some of the patients out of the ICU and off the floor, but now we’re just starting to fill up again.”
Utah considers its ICUs to be “functionally full” with 85% capacity, which the state is currently exceeding.
Stenehjem also said that the state’s high rate of positivity probably indicates the need for more people to be tested. “It shows us that the transmission rate of the community is at an all-time high,” he said, “and tells us that we are probably underestimating. If we have so many positive people, we really need to test more people to better understand what is happening with this epidemic here. in the state of Utah. “
Responding to concerns that coronavirus vaccines are being given to employees who are not frontline health professionals, Stenehjem explained that the vaccine was also administered to support employees and people who keep hospitals running.
“This includes all health professionals,” he said. “It is to ensure that the health infrastructure is stable.” The vaccine was available to workers such as laboratory staff, collection and custody personnel, as well as frontline employees, he said. “People who are not patient-oriented, but ensure that our health networks can function and allow us to care for patients.”
The two vaccines approved for widespread use in the United States, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, were made available for the first time to health professionals and residents of long-term care institutions. Soon, it will be available to workers in industries considered essential, starting with public school teachers.
Contributing: Graham Dudley, KSL.com
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.
Jacob Klopfenstein