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SALT LAKE CITY — After several record-breaking days of new COVID-19 cases in Utah, the number of new cases has decreased for three straight days, the Utah Department of Health reported.
The numbers indicate that the state may be returning to an epidemic plateau, according to the health department's data. Health officials haven't yet said Utah's statewide spike in cases is over, though.
Utah’s number of COVID-19 cases increased by 237 from Monday, with three new reported deaths, according to the health department.
Tuesday's totals give Utah 12,559 total confirmed cases, with 931 total hospitalizations and 127 total deaths from the disease. Previously, there were 12,322 cases in the state.
One of the people who died was a man from Utah County who was between the ages of 18 and 60, health officials reported. He was not hospitalized when he died.
The two other deaths reported Tuesday were men who were residents of long-term care facilities, according to the health department. One was a Davis County resident who was over the age of 85, and the other was from Salt Lake County and was between the ages of 60 and 85.
The new numbers indicate a 1.9% increase in positive cases since Monday. Of the 246,860 tests conducted in Utah so far, 5.1% were positive for COVID-19. There were 3,961 more tests conducted in Utah since Monday, health officials report.
The health department estimates there are now 5,041 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. There are 7,391 recovered cases in Utah, health officials estimate. Anyone who was diagnosed with COVID-19 three or more weeks ago who has not died is considered recovered from the disease.
Health officials analyze daily new case numbers and then categorize each day as indicating growth, decline or a plateau in the state's epidemic curve. After 12 straight days indicating a growth in the curve, the last three days have been categorized as "incidence plateau," according to the health department's website.
The rate of increase over the past three days has been around 2%. That is more in line with the rate of increase prior to the spike, which peaked Saturday with 546 new cases. Though the past few days show more promising data, there is no indication that the spike has officially come and gone.
Thirteen more people were hospitalized from Monday to Tuesday, and there are currently 126 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Utah.
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.
There is no COVID-19 news conference expected Tuesday. Utah officials provide updates at news conferences once a week on Wednesdays.
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Jacob Klopfenstein
