SALT LAKE CITY – After the start of New Year’s Day, the Utah Department of Health’s first report of 2021 shows 5,042 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 new deaths in the state.
The department says 3,110 of those cases would have been reported Friday.
With the update, Utah has now seen 281,654 confirmed cases and 1,212 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The health department says 14,900 more Utahns have been tested compared to Thursday’s numbers, and a total of 1,740,903 Utahns have been tested. There are currently 487 Utahns hospitalized for the coronavirus, and 11,101 total hospitalizations since the pandemic reached Utah last year.
In the past week, the state has an average of 2,506 new cases reported per day and a positive test rate of 27.4%.
No press conference on the coronavirus from state leaders is scheduled for the weekend. Gov. Gary Herbert, who led most news conferences in 2020, is leaving office and will be formally replaced on Monday by elected Spencer Cox government.
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 upon confirmation, 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, 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 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.
Graham Dudley