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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 2,574 on Wednesday, with 23 more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Wednesday is the second day in a row Utah has reported 23 COVID-19 deaths. The health department now estimates there are 60,472 active cases of the disease in Utah.
Health department state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn told KSL NewsRadio Wednesday that Utah didn't experience a major post-Thanksgiving surge that some health officials were expecting.
Daily case counts in the 4,000-6,000 range were expected after Thanksgiving, so the fact that Utah has reported cases in the 2,000s for the last several days is "fantastic," Dunn said.
"I think that goes just a long way to speak of the efforts Utahns put in, in that hard reset two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving; and then it shows that people adhered to social distancing and mask-wearing during Thanksgiving," Dunn said. "So, it's certainly something we need to keep going through the December holiday."
Gov.-elect Spencer Cox said vaccines will be a major factor in stopping the spread of COVID-19 cases, but it will likely be July or September of next year before there is a significant effect from the vaccine. He urged people to stay the course for the next few months.
"That's a huge deal to driving down our numbers," he said of vaccines. "If we can just hold on a little bit longer, we can save lives."
New coronavirus numbers
Though deaths remained high Wednesday, some other coronavirus statistics have improved. The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 2,892, down from 3,101 Tuesday, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period is now 26.6%, down slightly for the second day in a row.
Wednesday's new numbers indicate a 1.2% increase in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 1,523,990 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 14.6% have tested positive for the disease. The state reported an increase of 11,182 tests conducted as of Wednesday, according to health department data.
There are 581 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, state data shows. Of those, 223 are occupying intensive care units, according to state data. About 89% of all Utah ICU beds are occupied as of Wednesday, including 93% of ICU beds in the state's 16 referral hospitals.
About 56% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied in Utah as of Wednesday, state data shows.
The 23 deaths reported Wednesday were:
- A Utah County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Box Elder County woman who was over the age of 85 and was not hospitalized when she died
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Davis County man who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Weber County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Cache County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- Three Salt Lake County men who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died
- A Box Elder County woman who was between the ages 45 and 64 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- A male Utah County resident who was between the ages of 15 and 24 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Juab County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 25 and 44 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- An Iron County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- Three Washington County women who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died
- A Utah County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Piute County man who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Davis County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was hospitalized when he died
- An Iron County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and had an unknown hospitalization status
Wednesday's totals give Utah 222,545 total confirmed cases, with 9,105 total hospitalizations and 995 total deaths from the disease since the pandemic began. The health department initially said Wednesday there were 996 deaths, but clarified that due to a data uploading error, the incorrect deaths total was reported.
An estimated 161,077 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, according to the health department.
There is not a COVID-19 news conference scheduled for Wednesday. The news conference for this week is scheduled for Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
Vaccines coming soon to Utah
The first Utahn could be vaccinated for COVID-19 by early next week, according to Dunn.
The federal Food and Drug Administration will likely approve Pfizer's vaccine on Thursday. After it's approved, doses will likely be shipped out to states over the weekend and will arrive sometime next week.
State leaders aim to vaccinate 150,000 or more people in the next few months, Cox said. That will mostly include health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic, as well as long-term care facility residents and staffers.
Vaccines will be expanded to a much larger segment of the Utah population likely sometime in the spring, possibly March or April, Cox said.
"This is the best news we've had in nine months," he said.
However, it will still be some time before the vaccine has a significant effect on stopping the spread of COVID-19. Health officials aim to get 60% to 70% of the Utah population vaccinated, according to health department immunizations director Rich Lakin. If that happens by July or September, then the virus "hits a wall" and isn't able to spread past people who are vaccinated, Lakin said.
"Then we just keep broadening that umbrella," he said.
Five of Utah's largest hospitals are already equipped with the ultra-cold storage needed for the vaccine, Lakin said. Those are the Intermountain LDS Hospital, the University of Utah Hospital, Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Intermountain's Utah Valley Hospital and Intermountain's Dixie Regional Hospital.
For the other hospitals that don't have that storage ability, they will receive doses of the vaccine in boxes that will keep the doses for 15-20 days, Lakin said.
It's important for health care workers to get vaccinated first because they have a significant risk of becoming infected with COVID-19, Dunn said. There have been about 13,000 Utah health care workers who have been infected with the disease so far, she added. Of those, there have been several hundred hospitalizations and 12 deaths.
Since there is already a shortage of workers able to treat the disease in others, it's important to make sure those on the front lines get vaccinated, Dunn said.
"We want to make sure that they get protected as soon as possible," she said.
Cox said everyone in Utah who wants to get a vaccine will be able to get it. The cost of the vaccine has already been covered by taxpayers, though the administration of the doses may have some cost, he said. That cost should be covered by insurance for those who have medical coverage, and for those that don't have coverage, there may be some help, he added.
Cox said though there may be some vaccine side effects for a very small amount of people, Utahns can be certain that it is safe.
"We really can have faith in the efficacy of this," he said. "This is a miracle of science."
Once there is a significant effect from the vaccine around next fall, Cox joked that Utahns will have a huge party combining all the holidays that couldn't be celebrated normally in 2020 — Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas and more.
"We're going to blow the doors off this thing, I promise," Cox said.
Contributing: Amanda Dickson, KSL NewsRadio
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.
Referral hospitals are the 16 Utah hospitals with the capability to provide the best COVID-19 health care.
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.
For deaths that are reported as COVID-19 deaths, the person would not have died if they did not have COVID-19, according to the health department.
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.
More information about Utah's health guidance levels 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 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.
