SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah jumped 2,146 on Tuesday, with 26 more deaths, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Fifteen of those deaths occurred before Dec. 22, the health department reported. The state medical board is conducting an investigation into each death to determine the cause of COVID-19, which can delay reporting those deaths by several weeks.
There are now an estimated 54,792 active COVID-19 cases in Utah, health department data shows. The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now 2,946, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 29.3%.
There are currently 560 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Utah, including 187 in intensive care units, state data shows. About 85% of the beds in the Utah intensive care unit were occupied on Tuesday, including about 89% of the intensive care beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals.
A total of 110,530 vaccines were administered in the state, compared to 103,547 on Monday.
The new figures indicate an increase of 0.7% in positive cases since Monday. Of the 1,843,113 people who have been tested for COVID-19 so far in Utah, 16.9% have tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests performed on Monday increased by 17,782, and 11,991 of those were tests from people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
Tuesday’s totals give Utah 309,629 total confirmed cases, with 12,059 total hospitalizations and 1,422 total deaths from the disease. An estimated 253,415 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered.
There is no press conference on COVID-19 scheduled for Tuesday. Utah officials typically provide updates at news conferences once a week on Wednesdays or Thursdays.
This story is being updated.
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 after being confirmed, 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 they were reported, according to the health department. Some deaths may be 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.
Jacob Klopfenstein