SALT LAKE CITY – After taking New Year’s Day off, the Utah Department of Health’s first report in 2021 shows 5,042 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 new deaths in the state.
The department says 3,110 of those cases, and nine of the deaths, were reported on Friday.
With the update, Utah has now seen a total of 281,654 confirmed cases and 1,294 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began. The health department says 14,900 Utahns have been tested against Thursday’s numbers and 1,740,903 Utahns have been tested in total.
There are 487 Utahns currently hospitalized for the coronavirus, including 152 in intensive care, and 11,101 total hospitalizations since the pandemic hit Utah last year.
Last week, the state had an average of 2,506 new cases reported per day and a positive test rate of 27.4%.
Amid concerns about the speed of implantation of the two approved coronavirus vaccines, Utah on Saturday reported that 46,374 doses of the vaccine have been administered so far. This represents more than 16,000 doses of the number reported on New Year’s Eve; both the Pfizer and Modern vaccines require multiple doses.
There is no press conference on coronavirus by state leaders scheduled for the weekend. Governor Gary Herbert, who led most of the press conferences in 2020, is stepping down and will be formally replaced by Governor-elect Spencer Cox on Monday.
We will report 46,374 vaccines administered. Remember, “Administered doses” is the number of doses of the vaccine that have been given to people and reported to UDOH. There will be an interval between the time when vaccines are sent, administered to a person and, finally, communicated to us.
– Utah Department of Health (@UtahDepOfHealth) January 2, 2021
The 25 deaths reported in the past two days include six residents of Salt Lake County:
- Two men between 65 and 84 years old who lived in a long-term institution
- Two women aged 65 to 84 who were hospitalized when they died
- A man between 65 and 84 years old who was hospitalized
- A woman over 85 who was hospitalized
They also include six Davis County residents:
- A man between 65 and 84 years old who was hospitalized
- A woman between 25 and 44 years old who was not hospitalized
- Three men over 85 who were residents of a long-term care institution
- Woman between 65 and 84 years old who lived in a long-term institution
Washington, San Juan, Utah and Uintah counties also saw several deaths, with others spread across the state:
- A Washington County woman over 85 who was a resident of a long-term care institution
- A Washington County man between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized
- A Washington County man between 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- An Utah county woman over 85 who was a resident of a long-term care institution
- A Utah county man over 85 who was a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman from Uintah County over 85 who was not hospitalized
- A man from Uintah County between 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- San Juan County woman, aged 25-44, hospitalized
- A man from San Juan County between 25 and 44 who was hospitalized
- A woman from Box Elder County between 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- Weber County woman aged 45 to 64 who was not hospitalized
- A man from Duchesne County between 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- A woman from Sanpete County between the ages of 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
A first email from the Utah Department of Health incorrectly stated the total number of coronavirus-related deaths recorded in the state; he corrected that number in a follow-up email.
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.
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Graham Dudley