SALT LAKE CITY – The average number of confirmed cases fell slightly again after the Utah Department of Health released its daily COVID-19 report on Saturday.
Nonetheless, earlier this week, health experts warned of a possible rise after Sunday Super Bowl rallies.
The health department reported 1,211 new cases on Saturday, as well as five other deaths from COVID-19, including three women and two men, all but one over age 65.
The total number of people in Utah who have contracted the disease since its emergence in late 2019 is 353,700. In addition, it killed 1,733 people in Utah.
The seven-day moving average number of cases per day is 1,183, with an average percentage of positive tests now at 16.2%, down from 16.3% on Friday and 18% a week ago.
There are 335 people admitted to the hospital, which is also a drop from 349 reportedly hospitalized on Friday, and significantly fewer than the 430 hospitalized with COVID-19 last week, according to the report. state health service. Since the start of the pandemic, 13,828 people have been hospitalized in Utah. Hospitals floated dangerously close to or near full in December and much of January, and are still about 80% full, according to health department statistics available online at coronavirus.utah.gov.
The state has tested 2,070,190 people for the novel coronavirus, which has a high transmission speed throughout the state, except in two counties where transmission is low: Piute and Daggett counties.
A statewide mask mandate remains in effect, in public and wherever social distance is not possible.
The Utah government, Spencer Cox, announced on Thursday what’s next for the state’s vaccination plan. He said he will be eligible for Utahns 65 and older on March 1, as well as anyone with a variety of health conditions.
He has said he hopes everyone will have a chance to get a COVID-19 vaccine by the summer.
So far, 404,085 people in Utah have received vaccines against the rampant disease, including 21,204 since Friday’s report from the health department, which oversees vaccination efforts statewide.
In addition to wearing two masks or upgrading to a N95 or KN95 type mask, health officials have warned not to gather with anyone outside the house for Super Bowl parties this weekend. The more contagious variants of COVID-19 are circulating in Utah, making the situation slightly more risky for everyone who gathers.
A third confirmed case of the SARS-CoV-2 United Kingdom variant was announced in Utah earlier this week, although officials say there have been more. The state health department is performing genetic sequencing to identify variants of the virus on only about 10% of positive test results at this time.
New COVID-19 deaths reported on Saturday include:
- A Salt Lake County woman over 85 who was not hospitalized when she died.
- A woman in Tooele County between the ages of 45 and 64 who lived in a long-term care facility.
- A Millard County woman over 85 who was not hospitalized.
- A man from Weber County aged 65 to 84 who was hospitalized.
- A man aged 65 to 84 in Uintah County who was hospitalized.
New COVID-19 Cases Reported Saturday by Health District:
- Salt Lake County, 417
- Utah County, 248
- Davis County, 172
- Southwestern Utah, 117
- Weber-Morgan, 79
- Bear River, 79
- Tooele County, 26
- Summit County, 25
- Wasatch County, 15
- Central Utah, 14
- TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 14
- Southeastern Utah, 6
- San Juan County, 3