SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 560 on Tuesday, with an additional 13 deaths and 20,737 vaccinations reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Nine of the deaths occurred before February 1, but were still being investigated by the Utah state medical examiner, the health department said.
The state now estimates that there are 13,682 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. The average number of positive cases per day for seven days is now 529, 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 8.8%. The positive test rate per day, averaged over seven days, calculated using the “test on test” method is now 4.2%.
There are now 187 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Utah, including 73 in intensive care, state data show. About 66% of all beds in intensive care units in Utah are occupied, including about 67% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 48% of all non-ICU hospital beds in the state of Utah are now occupied, state data show.
In total, 878,487 vaccines were administered in the state, compared to 857,750 on Monday. A total of 573,525 Utahns have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 319,127 are already fully vaccinated, according to the health department. A total of 1,070,975 doses of vaccines have been sent to Utah so far.
The new figures indicate an increase of 0.1% in positive cases since Monday. Of the 2,257,389 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.7% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests carried out since the pandemic began is now 3,934,278, 16,450 more than on Monday, according to health officials. Of these, 6,185 were tests from people who had not taken the previous test for COVID-19.
The 13 deaths reported on Tuesday were:
- A woman from Juab County who was between 45 and 64 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- Two women from Salt Lake County over 85 years old and living in long-term care facilities
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term care institution
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A boy from Salt Lake County who was between 1 and 14 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man who was aged 65 to 84 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man who was over 85 and was not hospitalized when he died at the time of death
- A man from Washington County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term institution
- A Washington County man over 85 was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A man from Weber County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term institution
- A woman from Weber County who was between 45 and 64 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
Health officials said they had no further information about the Salt Lake County boy’s death due to health privacy laws, but said “this is a tragic reminder that we must remain vigilant about public health precautions”.
Department of Health data shows that there have been fewer than five reported deaths among the 1 to 14 year old age group in Utah. Less than five deaths were also reported between the 0-1 age group, and only five deaths were reported in the 15 to 24 age group.
Tuesday’s total gives Utah 375,669 confirmed cases, with 14,956 hospitalizations and 1,990 deaths from the disease. A total of 359,997 Utah COVID-19 cases are now being considered recovered, according to state data.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide an update to the COVID-19 pandemic at a 11 am Thursday press conference.
