SALT LAKE CITY – Utah health officials reported on Monday the lowest number of new confirmed cases in one day since last May.
The Beehive State reported only 159 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths. Now 381,788 people have tested positive for the disease in the state since the start of the pandemic, among 2.33 million people tested.
“It is great if we see a decrease in the case count. Hopefully, this means that people are taking precautions and that wearing masks is more common, ”said Jenny Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Health.
The last time the state saw less than 200 new cases in a single day occurred on May 27, when 86 cases were confirmed.
While the numbers bring optimism, Utah also reported its first case of the more contagious COVID-19 variant, which first appeared in South America on Monday.
The variant called P.1 was first identified in early January in travelers from Brazil, who were screened for coronavirus at an airport, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fifty-four cases of the variant have so far been confirmed in the United States since late January, including the Utah case.
Federal health officials say P.1 contains mutations that could prevent antibodies from detecting the virus. The variant also appears to spread more quickly and easily than others, according to the CDC.
Johnson said officials do not know exactly when the variant case occurred in the state, as it takes time to sequence the virus. Although only one case has been confirmed, Utah probably has more, as only a small percentage of cases are sequenced, she said.
If someone has traveled to Brazil or another high-risk area, they are prioritized for virus sampling.
“But we know that we will miss people, just as we know that there are probably more people with COVID in our state and in our country than anything that our numbers really show,” said Johnson.
“It’s here. The variants were here. We know we have more than our numbers probably show, especially since they spread so easily,” she said.
It is also too early to know whether the variant has caused more serious illnesses in the state, Johnson noted.
But lowercase counts mean that general variants will not spread as easily. The reduction of cases combined with the availability of the vaccine is “really hopeful,” said Johnson.
Health officials still do not believe that vaccines have had a major impact on the countdown of cases, as only 18% of the state’s population has so far received them. But vaccines have contributed to a downward trend in cases of people aged 75 and over who are most at risk of hospitalization and death.
Vaccines are also believed to act against variants of the disease.
This is one of the reasons why public health officials are encouraging all those eligible to be vaccinated “as quickly as possible,” even those who are young and without comorbidities, according to Johnson.
Now, those who can be vaccinated need to do so to protect those who cannot – children, Johnson said, to prevent the COVID-19 variants from mutating and spreading.
“The more people are protected, the less and less chance of this variant spreading, and when it does, it essentially dies,” she said.
Measures like wearing a mask, staying away from home and staying at home if you have symptoms also remain important, Johnson said.
“These are all the things that protect you from the virus, be it the variant or the original strain, it doesn’t matter. These things work, ”she said.
The seven-day continuous average for positive tests is 457 per day, and a further 2,333 Utahns have taken the COVID-19 tests since Sunday. A total of 4,144 tests were administered. This puts the seven-day continuous average for percent test positivity at 4.1% when all test results are included and 8% when multiple tests done by an individual in the last 90 days are excluded.
Utah has vaccinated more than 1,154 million people.
Vaccines will be available to anyone over 16 on Wednesday. Vaccine providers can be found at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine or vaccinefinder.org.