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SALT LAKE CITY — In its daily update on COVID-19 statistics in the state, the Utah Department of Health Saturday reported 1,354 new test-confirmed coronavirus cases and five deaths over Friday's numbers.
With the update, Utah has now seen 84,644 total confirmed cases and 510 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
In an email, the health department said the five deceased Utahns included:
- A Salt Lake County man between ages 65 and 84 who was hospitalized at the time of death
- A Salt Lake County man over age 85 who was also hospitalized
- A Utah County man over age 85 who was hospitalized
- A Washington County woman between ages 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- And a man between ages 65 and 84 who lived somewhere in the Southeast Utah Health District — Grand, Emery or Carbon county — and was not hospitalized at the time of death
Health officials Saturday are reporting that 11,846 new Utahns were tested over Friday's figures, a new high figure for tests reported on a single day. Over the past week, 13.7% of tests are returning positive and the state is averaging 1,187 new COVID-19 cases per day during that time. Overall, the state reports it has now conducted more than 1.2 million tests on 912,894 individuals.
Currently, 231 Utahns are reported hospitalized due to COVID-19. Eighty-nine of those patients are in the intensive care unit, the health department reports, and the state is using 70% of its ICU beds.
Health officials warned this week that the coronavirus is straining health care resources and bed space in some urban areas. The recent coronavirus hot spots of Salt Lake County and Utah County accounted for 602 and 334 of Saturday's new reported cases, respectively.
Overall, Utah's two most populous counties have accounted for 70% of its reported COVID-19 cases.
The health department estimates that 62,401 Utahns have recovered from the coronavirus and that 21,733 cases are active right now.
Methodology:
Test results now include data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive COVID-19 test results are reported to the health department immediately after they are confirmed, 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 Utah's outbreak began, including those who are 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.
Deaths reported by the state typically occurred two to seven days prior to when they are reported, according to the health department. Some deaths may be from even further back, especially if the person is from Utah but has died in another state.
The health department reports both confirmed and probable COVID-19 case deaths per the case definition outlined by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. The death counts are subject to change as case investigations are completed.
Data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit your local health district's website.
Information is from the Utah Department of Health and coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts. For more information on how the Utah Department of Health compiles 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.
