SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Department of Health reported 1,468 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state on Saturday, as well as eight new deaths from the disease.
That brings Utah to 345,430 total reported cases and 1,663 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The new cases come because 8,768 people have reportedly been tested. In the past week, Utah has an average of 1,509 new COVID-19 cases per day and a positive test rate of 18%.
There are currently 430 Utahns hospitalized because of COVID-19, the health department says, bringing the total number of hospital admissions during the pandemic to 13,427. Of those hospitalized, 139 are reported to be in intensive care, contributing to a current statewide ICU capacity of just over 86%.
All those statistics are going in a positive direction from a week ago. The rolling positive test rate has dropped about one point and the seven-day mean number of cases has dropped by about 300 cases. There are 51 fewer Utahns hospitalized and 57 fewer in intensive care.
The health department says the state has administered 300,516 doses of the coronavirus vaccine so far, nearly 19,000 more than yesterday and nearly 80,000 more than last Saturday. Nearly 58,000 of the vaccines administered were second doses; both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses for maximum effect.
The eight deaths reported Saturday include:
- A man from Cache County between the ages of 65 and 84 who was hospitalized when he died
- A Davis County man aged 65 to 84 who was hospitalized
- An 85-year-old woman from Salt Lake County not hospitalized when she died
- A man in Salt Lake County between the ages of 45 and 64 who was hospitalized
- A woman in Salt Lake County between the ages of 45 and 64 who was hospitalized
- A Salt Lake County man over 85 who was hospitalized
- A woman in Salt Lake County between the ages of 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- A woman over 85 from Weber County living in a long-term care facility
No press conference on the coronavirus from state leaders is scheduled for this weekend.
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 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 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 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