SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 1,591 on Wednesday, with an additional 12 deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Three of those deaths occurred before January 14, but were still being investigated by the Utah state medical examiner, according to the health department.
There are now about 35,431 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah, according to the health department. The average number of positive cases per day over seven days is now 1,334, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 16.6%.
There are now 352 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 119 in intensive care, state data show. About 75% of beds in the intensive care unit in Utah are occupied on Wednesday, including about 79% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 54% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied, according to the health department.
A total of 345,179 vaccines were administered in the state, compared with 325,457 on Tuesday. Of these, 77,824 are second doses of the vaccine, according to state data.
The new figures indicate an increase of 0.5% in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,044,811 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests performed increased by 16,507 on Wednesday, and 9,149 of them were tests from people who had not taken the COVID-19 test previously.
The 12 deaths reported on Wednesday were:
- Two men from Salt Lake County between the ages of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between 45 and 64 years old and were hospitalized when they died
- A Utah county man who was between 45 and 64 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
- A man from Weber County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term institution
- A woman from Box Elder County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when she died
- A woman from Davis County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman from Davis County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman from Washington County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term institution
Wednesday’s totals give Utah 350,000 confirmed cases, with 13,648 hospitalizations and 1,697 deaths from the disease. A total of 312,872 Utah COVID-19 cases are now 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.
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