SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 729 on Wednesday, with seven more deaths and 18,236 vaccinations reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Five of the deaths occurred before February 10, but were still being investigated by state coroners, the health department said. The health department estimates that there are now 15,720 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah.
The average number of positive cases per day for seven days is now 590, according to the health department. The rate of positive test per day for that period of time reported with the “people over people” method is now 10.2%. The positive test rate per day, averaged over seven days, calculated using the “test on test” method is now 4.8%.
There are now 212 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 92 in intensive care, state data show. About 72% of all beds in intensive care units in Utah are occupied, including about 75% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals, according to the health department. About 53% of hospital beds outside the ICU are now occupied in Utah.
A total of 759,533 vaccines were administered in the state, up from 741,297 on Tuesday. Of these, 269,368 are second doses of the vaccine, according to state data.
The new figures indicate an increase of 0.2% in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,222,755 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.8% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests performed increased to 3,849,589 on Wednesday, an increase from 21,267 on Tuesday. Of these, 8,249 were tests from people who had not taken the previous test for COVID-19, reported the health department.
The seven deaths reported on Wednesday were:
- A Box Elder County man 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 lived in a long-term care facility
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when she died
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Washington County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term institution
The death of an Iron County man, reported on Monday, was taken from COVID-19’s total death count, health officials said. UDOH did not disclose the reason why the reported death was removed from the count.
Wednesday’s totals give Utah 372,708 confirmed cases, with 14,783 hospitalizations and 1,955 deaths from the disease. A total of 355,033 Utah COVID-19 cases are now estimated to be recovered, reports the health department.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide his weekly pandemic update at 11 am on Thursday, according to his office.