SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah rose by 1,591 on Wednesday, with 12 more deaths, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Three of those deaths occurred before Jan. 14, but were still under investigation by the medical examiner’s office in Utah, according to the health department.
According to the health department, there are now an estimated 35,431 active COVID-19 cases in Utah. The moving seven-day average number of positive cases per day now stands at 1,334, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 16.6%.
There are now 352 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 119 in intensive care units, data shows. About 75% of the beds in the Utah intensive care unit will be filled as of Wednesday, including about 79% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. According to the health department, about 54% of non-intensive care hospital beds are occupied.
A total of 345,179 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 325,457 Tuesday. Of those, 77,824 are second doses of the vaccine, according to state data.
The new numbers indicate an increase of 0.5% in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,044,811 people tested for COVID-19 so far in Utah, 17.1% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests conducted increased by 16,507 as of Wednesday, and 9,149 of those were tests from people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
The 12 deaths reported Wednesday were:
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died
- Two men from Salt Lake County, aged between 45 and 64, were hospitalized when they died
- A Utah County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Weber County man over the age of 85 living in a long-term care facility
- A Box Elder County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Davis County woman over the age of 85 living in a long-term care facility
- A Davis County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and lived in a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and lived in a long-term care facility
- A Washington County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and lived in a long-term care facility
Wednesday’s totals give Utah 350,000 total confirmed cases, with 13,648 total hospitalizations and 1,697 total deaths from the disease. According to the health department, a total of 312,872 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered.
The Utah government, Spencer Cox, will provide a pandemic update Thursday at 11 a.m., according to the governor’s office.
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 start of the Utah outbreak, including those currently infected, those who have recovered from the disease, and those who are passed away.
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, the health department said. 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 about Utah’s 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. To learn more about 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