SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah rose Wednesday by 729, with seven more deaths and 18,236 reported vaccinations, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Five of the deaths occurred before Feb. 10, but were still being investigated by state medical examiners, the health department said. The Department of Health estimates that there are now 15,720 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah.
The average continuous number of seven positive days a day is now 590, according to the health department. The positive daily test rate for that period compared to the ‘people over people’ method is now 10.2%. The positive daily test rate, averaged over seven days, calculated using the “test over test” method is now 4.8%.
There are currently 212 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 92 in intensive care, state data show. About 72 percent of all beds in intensive care units in Utah are now occupied, including about 75 percent of ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals, according to the health department. About 53% of non-ICU hospital beds are now occupied in Utah.
A total of 759,533 vaccines were administered in the state, up from 741,297 on Tuesday. Of these, 269,368 are the second dose of vaccine, according to state data.
The new figures indicate a 0.2% increase in positive cases on Tuesday. Of the 2,222,755 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.8% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests performed increased on Wednesday to 3,849,589, increasing by 21,267 compared to Tuesday. Of these, 8,249 were tests in people who had not been previously tested for COVID-19, the health department reported.
The seven deaths reported on Wednesday were:
- A man from Box Elder County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A 45-year-old man from Salt Lake County who was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A woman in Salt Lake County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A woman from Salt Lake County, who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when she died
- A woman from Salt Lake County, who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Washington County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
The death of a man from Iron County, reported on Monday, was removed from the total number of deaths in COVID-19, health officials said. The UDOH did not disclose the reason why the reported death was withdrawn from the count.
Wednesday’s total in Utah offers 372,708 confirmed cases in total, with 14,783 total hospitalizations and 1,955 total deaths from the disease. A total of 355,033 cases of Utah COVID-19 are now estimated to be recovered, the Department of Health reports.
Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, is scheduled to provide the weekly pandemic update at 11 a.m. Thursday, according to his office.