SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Department of Health on Sunday is reporting 1,819 new cases of COVID-19 in the state and seven new deaths from the disease.
This leads Utah to 283,473 confirmed cases and 1,301 deaths since the pandemic began.
The health department says 486 Utahns are hospitalized for the coronavirus, including 164 in intensive care.
Last week, the state had an average of 2,652 new confirmed cases per day and a positive test rate of 29.2%. This percentage is the highest ever. Only 4,802 more people were tested against Saturday’s numbers, although the total number of tests performed increased by 9,109.
The health department is reporting that 47,382 Utahns received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, an increase of just 1,000 since Saturday, although the health department continually warns that there is “a delay between the time the vaccines are sent, administered to a person and finally reported “to them. The vaccine is going to the elderly and frontline medical personnel in the state first.
Six of the deaths reported on Sunday were men:
- Salt Lake County resident over 85 who lived in a long-term care facility
- A Washington County resident between 65 and 84 who was hospitalized when he died
- Washington County resident over 85 who was not hospitalized
- Washington County resident aged 65 to 84 who was not hospitalized
- Utah County resident aged 65 to 84 who was hospitalized
- Utah County resident over 85 who lived in a long-term care facility
A woman in Weber County between 65 and 84, who was hospitalized when she died, was also listed.
State leadership, both general and in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, will make the transition on Monday, when governor-elect Spencer Cox takes office. Cox will be tasked with accelerating the vaccine’s launch in Utah and keeping Utahns vigilant in the months of the pandemic’s decline, after nearly a year of coronavirus precautions.
This week
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.
Graham Dudley