Utah reports eight more coronavirus deaths and 3,489 new cases

Utah reports eight more coronavirus deaths and 3,489 new cases

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Nearly 17,000 have already received the vaccine, and the ICU’s capacity has dropped to its December low.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) “I didn’t even feel it,” said VA health technician Diane Perkins, who received the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. George E. Wahlen, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is one of 113 VA Medical Centers across the country to receive the first limited supply of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine. As frontline healthcare professionals in Utah hospitals continue to receive vaccines this week, including staff at the George E. Wahlen Medical Center Department of Veterans Affairs, December 23, 2020, those working in long-term care facilities are scheduled to receive their first doses Monday.

| December 26, 2020, 7:11 pm

| Updated: 20h30

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Utah reported 3,489 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday and eight more deaths since Thursday.

Most of these cases – 2,498 – would have been reported on Friday, when new figures were not released because of Christmas. The remaining 991 cases were new cases reported on Saturday, according to the state Department of Health.

Last week, the state recorded an average of 2,153 new positive test results per day. The average rate of positive testing in the past seven days is 24% – an indicator, health officials said, that many infected Utahns are not yet being tested.

Since the start of the pandemic, 264,078 Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19.

The number of deaths from coronavirus in the state increased on Saturday to 1,212. The eight new deaths:

  • A man from Weber County between 65 and 84 years old.

  • A Weber County man over 85 years old.

  • A Box Elder county man between 45 and 64 years old.

  • A Utah county man between 65 and 84 years old.

  • A woman from Davis County between 65 and 84 years old.

  • Salt Lake County woman between 45 and 64 years old.

  • A woman from Millard County between 65 and 84 years old.

  • A woman from Washington County over 85 years old.

All eight Utahns were hospitalized at the time of death and, currently, 481 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state. The health department’s coronavirus panel shows that 172 of these people are in beds in intensive care units.

For the first time this month, the state reported that less than 85% of its ICU beds were occupied. On Saturday, that number was 81.7% – down 88.4% on Thursday – with 83.7% of the ICU beds in the state’s largest “reference” hospitals occupied.

Doctors and hospital administrators said that these figures do not take into account fluctuations in personnel or the high demand for specialists and equipment when a large percentage of ICU patients are being treated for the same disease. In practice, doctors say that the quality of care begins to deteriorate due to informal rationing that occurs when ICUs reach about 85% of capacity.

Overall, 10,522 Utahns have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.

The state said tests had been carried out for 12,956 people since Thursday. The health department said 8,879 of them would have been registered on Friday, while the remaining 4,077 would have been registered on Saturday.

Another 2,102 vaccines have been administered since Thursday, bringing the total to 16,924. That number is expected to increase substantially in the coming days, as long-term care units and more rural hospitals start dispensing the vaccine.

Correction: December 26, 12:35 pm • Utah reported 3,489 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. An earlier version gave an incorrect number.

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