SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Department of Health reported 1,585 confirmed cases of COVID-19 testing in the state on Sunday, along with eight new reported deaths.
This brings Utah to 323,837 confirmed cases and 1,493 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Currently, the health department says 557 Utahns are hospitalized because of COVID-19, including 226 in intensive care. The Department of Health’s website says more than 100% of beds in Utah are recommended, with a total of 458 patients being treated, although there are 453 beds available.
Sunday’s numbers come as the state conducted another 14,727 tests, of which 7,199 were for people who had not been tested before.
In the last week, the state has an average of 2,209 new cases reported per day and a positive test rate of 22.6%. The Department of Health says 157,170 total doses of coronavirus vaccine have now been given in Utah, up from 4,661 the previous day.
Nearly 15,000 Utahns received the second dose of vaccine; both the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine require two doses for maximum efficacy. The state began by vaccinating health workers and has now moved to teachers and residents over the age of 70.
There is no coronavirus press conference scheduled for the weekend. Governor Spencer Cox and health officials are expected to hold a conference later this week; usually occurs on Thursday.
Utahs whose deaths were reported on Sunday included seven men who were all hospitalized when they died:
- A man from Carbon County between 65 and 84 years old
- A man from Millard County aged between 65 and 84 years
- Two men from Utah County between the ages of 45 and 64
- A man from Utah County between the ages of 65 and 84
- A man from Washington County between 65 and 84 years old
- A man from Washington County over the age of 85
A woman from Iron County, aged between 65 and 84, who lived in a long-term care unit, was also included.
Methodology:
Test results now include data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive COVID-19 test results are reported to the health department immediately after confirmation, but negative test results cannot be reported for 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported daily by the Utah Department of Health includes all COVID-19 cases since the onset of the Utah outbreak, including those currently infected, those recovering from the disease, and those who have died.
Recovered cases are defined as anyone who was diagnosed with COVID-19 three or more weeks ago and did not die.
The referral hospitals are the 16 hospitals in Utah with the capacity to provide the best COVID-19 health care.
State-reported deaths usually occurred two to seven days before they are reported, according to the health department. Some deaths may come from the back, especially if the person is from Utah but died in another state.
The Department of Health reports both confirmed and probable deaths in the COVID-19 case, as defined by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiology. The number of deaths may change as case investigations are completed.
For deaths that are reported as COVID-19 deaths, the person would not have died if they did not have COVID-19, according to the health department.
The data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit the local health district website.
More information on Utah health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
The information comes 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