SALT LAKE CITY – After taking Christmas Day, the Utah Department of Health was back on Saturday, reporting 3,489 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight new deaths in the state.
About 2,498 of those cases would have been reported Friday, the health department said, and 991 are as of today. That number is well below the state average in recent months, but is likely to be cut by the closure of COVID-19 test sites over the holidays.
With the update, Utah has now seen a total of 264,078 confirmed cases and 1,212 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The new case figure came when 12,956 Utahns were being tested.
In an email, the health department said all eight Utahns who died were hospitalized at the time. They include:
- A Weber County man between the ages of 65 and 84
- A Weber County man over 85
- A Box Elder County man between the ages of 45 and 64
- A Utah County man aged 65 to 84
- A Davis County woman between the ages of 65 and 84
- A woman in Salt Lake County between the ages of 45 and 64
- A Millard County woman between the ages of 65 and 85
- A woman over 85 from Washington County
Currently, 481 Utahns are hospitalized for COVID-19, including 172 in intensive care. That’s a drop from 559 Utahns hospitalized a week ago.
In the past week, the state reported an average of 2,153 new cases per day and a positive test rate of 24%.
The health department says 16,924 Utahns have now had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Primary health workers are given the vaccine first.
Methodology:
The test results now include data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive COVID-19 test results will be reported to the health department immediately upon confirmation, but negative test results may not be reported for 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 Utah outbreak began, including those currently infected, those who have recovered 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 has not died.
Referral hospitals are the 16 hospitals in Utah that can provide the best COVID-19 healthcare.
Deaths reported by the state usually occurred two to seven days before reporting, according to the health department. Some deaths can be even further back, especially if the person is from Utah but died in another state.
The health department reports both confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19 according to the case definition outlined by the Council of State and territorial epidemiologists. Death rates are subject to change as the investigation of the case is completed.
For deaths reported as COVID-19 deaths, the person would not have died if they had not had COVID-19, according to the health department.
The data in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. Visit your local health district website for more localized information.
More information on Utah health guidelines is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
Information is from the Utah Department of Health and coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts. For more information on how the Utah Department of Health collects 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