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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health released its daily update on COVID-19 statistics in the state Sunday afternoon, revealing 1,200 new test-confirmed cases of the coronavirus and seven more coronavirus-related deaths.
The numbers bring Utah up to 85,844 total confirmed cases and 517 deaths since the pandemic began.
In an email, the health department said the seven deceased Utahns were all men and include:
- Three Salt Lake County men between ages 65 and 84 who were hospitalized at the time of death
- A Cache County man between ages 65 and 84 who was a long-term care facility resident
- A Tooele County man between ages 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- A Davis County man over age 85 who was the resident of a long-term care facility
- And a Washington County man between ages 45 and 64 who was hospitalized at the time of death.
Despite its proximity to Salt Lake County, Sunday's loss marks just the second Tooele County resident to die of COVID-19. By the state health department's count, Tooele County, Summit County and the TriCounty and Southeast Utah health districts have lost fewer than three residents to the coronavirus pandemic. Salt Lake County and Utah County together account for 67% of Utah's coronavirus-related deaths.
Utah has regularly seen in excess of 1,000 new cases per day over the past weeks, a single-day number that had not been reached until September after most schools and universities reopened throughout the state.
Over the past week, the state is averaging 1,161 new cases per day and its positive test percentage during that time is 13.9%. One month ago, the state's seven-day rolling average of new cases was 402 and 9% of tests returned positive that week.
The state has been testing more people in the last month, but reported 5,677 new Utahns tested on Sunday. On Saturday, Utah tested a record-high 11,846 people. A month previously, the state averaged just over 4,400 people per day.
Currently, 254 Utahns are reported hospitalized for COVID-19 and 99 of them are in intensive care. That marks a new high number for Utahns hospitalized for COVID-19 on a single day.
About 63,307 Utahns are estimated to have recovered from the disease since the pandemic began, meaning 22,020 of the state's cases are considered active.
Utah government and health officials will update the public on the state's coronavirus battle during their regular news conference this week, which typically occurs on Wednesdays or Thursdays.
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.
