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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 156 from Thursday with no new reported deaths, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Friday’s totals give Utah 4,828 confirmed cases, with 403 total hospitalizations and 46 total deaths from the disease. Previously, there were 4,672 cases in the state.
The new numbers indicate a 3.3% increase in positive cases since Thursday. Of the 112,558 people tested in Utah so far, 4.3% have tested positive for COVID-19.
The total number of cases reported by the health department includes all cases of COVID-19 since Utah’s outbreak began including those who are infected now, those who have recovered from the disease, and those who have died.
As of Thursday, 2,062 people were considered recovered from COVID-19 in Utah. Anyone who was diagnosed with COVID-19 three or more weeks ago and has not died is considered recovered from the disease.
At 12:01 a.m. Friday, Utah officially moved from high risk to a moderate risk phase under the Utah Leads Together 2.0 plan.
People will still be asked to socially distance and practice good hygiene as some parts of the economy gradually open back up. The key to preventing additional spread of COVID-19 in Utah will be to stay home when possible, health department state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said Friday.
“Even though we are opening pieces of our economy and our society, those principles still hold," Dunn said.
Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn discussed the current coronavirus situation in the state at the daily department of health press conference on Friday afternoon. Watch the replay of the event below.
As Utah transitions to the new state of operations, health officials say it will be important to identify hot spots and outbreaks in communities across Utah.
To do that, the health department is organizing mobile strike teams to respond to such events.
Friday, Dunn said the first strike team had been deployed to a residential facility in Utah County that serves adults with developmental disabilities.
Fifteen of the 40 residents at the facility, which was not identified, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Dunn. Nine staff members have also tested positive, she said.
Strike teams will be tailored to each individual situation, but typically have medical care workers, investigators who examine disease spread in the communities, and people who provide support services to those affected by the outbreak, Dunn said.
There is some risk that the state of Utah may see another wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in the fall, coinciding with flu season, Dunn said.
The state is preparing for that possibility, she said. If or when another surge occurs, state leaders will need to decide what level of social distancing is necessary and tolerable to manage another outbreak of the disease, Dunn added.
For more information, visit coronavirus.utah.gov.
