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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 2,892 on Thursday, with nine more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The health department estimates there are 54,541 active COVID-19 cases in Utah as of Thursday. The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 2,379, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period is now 24%.
Of the 1,677,510 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 15.5% have tested positive for COVID-19. An additional 10,631 more tests were conducted as of Thursday, state data shows.
There are 561 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, state data shows. Of those, 180 are occupying intensive care unit beds across the state. About 88.4% of all ICU beds in the state are occupied as of Thursday, with 91.5% occupancy in Utah's 16 referral hospitals. About 53% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied in Utah as of Thursday.
The health department reported 14,822 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Utah as of Thursday. The Health Department noted that doses administered is the number of vaccine doses that have been given to people and reported to the UDOH.
"There will be a lag between when vaccines are shipped, administered to a person, and finally reported to the UDOH," read the statement. "Once people in Utah begin getting their second dose of vaccine, the UDOH will also report the total number of people vaccinated. Data are preliminary and the UDOH will report additional data as they become available."
The nine deaths reported Thursday were:
- Two Salt Lake County men between 65-84-years-old
- A Salt Lake County man older than 85-years-old and was hospitalized when he died
- A Davis County man between 45-64-years-old and was hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man older than 85-years-old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- Two Salt Lake County women between 65-84-years-old who were hospitalized when they died
- A Utah County woman between 22-55-years-old and she was hospitalized when she died
- A Weber County woman between 45-64-years-old and she was hospitalized when she died
Thursday's totals give Utah 260,589 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, 10,406 people have been hospitalized and 1,204 people have died from the disease.
A total of 204,844 Utah COVID-19 cases are now estimated to be recovered, state data shows.
There is not a COVID-19 news conference scheduled for this week. The health department will not be updating Utah COVID-19 statistics on Friday in observance of the Christmas holiday.
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.
