SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 584 on Monday, with three more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
This marks the lowest total of new COVID-19 cases in a single day since September. It is the second time in the new year that Utah has registered fewer than 1,000 cases, along with 859 new cases reported on January 25.
The health department estimates that there are now 37,692 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. The average number of seven consecutive days of positive cases per day is 1,425, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 16.7%.
There are 402 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 129 in intensive care, state data show. About 80% of all beds in the intensive care unit in Utah hospitals are occupied on Monday, including about 82% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 54% of all Utah hospital beds are occupied, according to the health department.
A total of 311,785 vaccines were administered in the state, compared with 310,692 on Sunday. Of these, 63,711 are second doses of the vaccine.
Monday’s new figures indicate an increase of 0.2% in positive cases since Sunday. Of the 2,028,163 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests performed increased by 4,818 on Monday, and 3,516 of them were tests from people who had not been tested for COVID-19, according to the health department.
The three deaths reported on Monday include:
- A Box Elder County man who was between 45 and 64 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A man from Salt Lake County who was 65 to 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A Utah county man who was 65 to 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
Monday’s totals give Utah 347,208 confirmed cases, with 13,515 hospitalizations and 1,668 deaths from the disease. A total of 307,848 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, state data show.
There is no COVID-19 press conference scheduled for Monday. Utah Governor Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide an update on the pandemic at 11 am Thursday morning, according to his office.
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