SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 1,299 on Wednesday, with another 17 deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The health department estimates that there are 29,337 active cases of the disease as of Wednesday – the first day that the estimate has dropped to less than 30,000 since October 28.
Utah Department of Health Executive Director Rich Saunders told the Utah Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday afternoon that Utah will have enough doses to vaccinate each Utahn before June, according to Deseret News .
“We will reach the entire adult population, if 100% of them want to, by the end of May,” said Saunders.
The average number of positive cases per day over seven days is now 1,053, according to the health department. The rate of positive test per day for that period of time reported using the “people over people” method is now 15.3%. The rate of positive test per day for that period of time reported using the “test on test” method is now 7%.
This week, the health department began reporting two different methods for calculating the average positive test rate of seven days a day. The “people over people” method is calculated by dividing the number of people tested positive for COVID-19 by the total number of people tested. The health department has used this method to calculate the moving average since the beginning of the pandemic.
The agency is now also reporting the “test on test” method, which is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered. The “test on test” method is responsible for duplicating the positive and negative COVID-19 tests, while the “person on people” method does not.
The “people over people” method influences the higher mean, while the “test over test” method is lower biased, and the true mean is considered somewhere in the middle, according to health department epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn. The health department will continue to provide both notification methods on a daily basis, which will help to better compare the Utah pandemic with that of other states, Dunn said.
There are 323 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 131 in intensive care, state data show. About 80% of all beds in intensive care units in Utah are occupied on Wednesday, including about 84% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals, according to state data. About 53% of non-ICU hospital beds in Utah are occupied on Wednesday.
442,476 vaccines have already been administered in the state, compared to 425,698 on Tuesday. Of these, 117,305 are second doses of the vaccine.
The new figures indicate a 0.4% increase in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,094,809 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% tested positive for COVID-19.
The total number of COVID-19 conducted in Utah since the pandemic began, including positive and negative duplicate tests, is now 3,522,246. This represents an increase of 23,334 tests performed since Tuesday, and 8,988 of them were tests from people who had not taken the previous test for COVID-19.
The 17 deaths reported on Wednesday were:
- A man from Box Elder County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Box Elder County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A Carbon County woman who was over 85 and was hospitalized when she died
- A man from Cache County who was over 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was over 85 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term institution
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- Salt Lake County woman over 85 years old and resident in a long-term care facility
- A man from Tooele County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Utah County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A man from Utah County who was over 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A man from Utah County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term institution
- A Wasatch County woman over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- 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 over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A Weber County man who was over 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A man from Weber County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
Wednesday’s totals give Utah 357,339 confirmed cases, with 14,007 hospitalizations and 1,765 deaths from the disease. It is estimated that 326,237 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, the health department said.
There is no COVID-19 press conference scheduled for Wednesday. Utah Governor Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide an update on the pandemic at 11 am on Thursday.
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.