SALT LAKE CITY – After taking Christmas leave, the Utah Department of Health returned on Saturday and reported 3,489 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight new deaths in the state.
About 2,498 of these cases were reported on Friday, the health department said, and 991 are today. This number is well below what the state has done on average in recent months, but is likely to be reduced by closing COVID-19 test sites during the holiday.
With the update, Utah has now recorded a total of 264,078 confirmed cases and 1,212 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began. The new case figure came as another 12,956 Utahns were tested.
In an email, the health department said all eight Utahns who died were hospitalized at the time. These included:
- A man from Weber County aged between 65 and 84 years
- A man from Weber County over the age of 85
- A man from Box Elder County between the ages of 45 and 64
- A man from Utah County between the ages of 65 and 84
- A woman from Davis County between the ages of 65 and 84
- A woman from Salt Lake County between the ages of 45 and 64
- A woman from Millard County between the ages of 65 and 85
- A woman from Washington County over the age of 85
Currently, there are 481 Utahns hospitalized due to COVID-19, including 172 in intensive care. It dropped from 559 Utahns hospitalized a week ago.
In the last week, the state has an average of 2,153 new cases reported per day and a positive test rate of 24%.
The health department says 16,924 Utahn have now received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine. The first health workers receive the vaccine.
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 may not 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 healthcare.
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.
Graham Dudley