SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 1,201 on Tuesday, with another 17 deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Six of those deaths occurred before January 13, but were still being investigated by the state’s medical examiner, according to the health department.
The health department estimates that there are now 36,747 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. The average number of positive cases per day over seven days is now 1,394, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 16.6%.
There are 396 patients with COVID-19 currently hospitalized in Utah, including 130 in intensive care, state data show. About 76% of all beds in the intensive care unit were occupied in Utah on Tuesday, including about 79% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 52% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied, according to data from the health department.
A total of 325,457 vaccines were administered in the state, compared with 311,785 on Monday.
The new figures indicate an increase of 0.3% in positive cases since Monday. Of the 2,035,662 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests performed increased by 14,840, of which 7,499 were tests from people who had not taken the previous COVID-19 test.
Tuesday’s total gives Utah 348,409 confirmed cases, with 13,576 hospitalizations and 1,685 deaths from the disease. It is estimated that 309,977 Utah COVID-19 cases are being considered recovered, according to the health department.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide an update on the pandemic at 11 am on Thursday, according to the governor’s office.
This story will be updated.
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