SALT LAKE CITY – According to the Utah Department of Health, COVID-19 cases in Utah rose by 812 on Wednesday, with 14 more deaths.
The health department estimates that there are now 19,001 active cases of the disease in Utah.
The moving seven-day average number of positive cases per day now stands at 768, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period reported with the “people over people” method is now 13.1%. The positive test rate per day over seven days calculated with the “test over test” method is now 6.1%.
There are currently 222 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Utah, including 91 in intensive care units, state data shows. About 74% of all intensive care beds in Utah are now occupied, including about 77% of the intensive care beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. According to data from the health department, about 51% of all non-IC hospital beds are now occupied.
A total of 641,881 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 623,876 Tuesday. Of those, 221,619 are second doses of the vaccine, state data shows.
The new numbers indicate an increase of 0.2% in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,180,594 people tested for COVID-19 so far in Utah, 16.9% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests being conducted in Utah is now 3,744,344, 19,389 more than since Tuesday. Of those, 7,631 were tests from people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
The 14 deaths reported Wednesday include:
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Sevier County man over the age of 85 and hospitalized when he died
- A man from Tooele County who was between the ages of 25 and 44 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man over the age of 85 who was hospitalized when he died
- Two men from Utah County who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died
- A woman from Box Elder province who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when she died
- Two women from Salt Lake County who were over the age of 85 who were not hospitalized when they died
- A Salt Lake County woman over the age of 85 living in a long-term care facility
- A woman in Utah County who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Washington County woman over the age of 85 who was not hospitalized when she died
Wednesday’s totals give Utah 368,601 total confirmed cases, with 14,554 total hospitalizations and 1,879 total deaths from the disease. According to the health department, an estimated 347,721 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered.
The Utah government, Spencer Cox, will provide a pandemic update at a press conference Thursday at 11 a.m.
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 they are confirmed, but negative test results may not be reported until after 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 set forth 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 “people over people” method for the seven-day mean positive test rate is calculated by dividing the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 by the total number of people tested. The “test over test” method is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered.
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. 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.