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SALT LAKE CITY — After taking Christmas Day off, the Utah Department of Health was back at it Saturday and reported 3,489 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight new deaths in the state.
About 2,498 of those cases would have been reported Friday, the health department said, and 991 are from today. That number is far below what the state has been averaging over the past several months, but is likely lowered by the closure of COVID-19 testing sites over the holiday.
With the update, Utah has now seen 264,078 total confirmed cases and 1,212 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began. The new case figure came as 12,956 more Utahns were tested.
In an email, the health department said all eight Utahns who died were hospitalized at the time. They included:
- A Weber County man between ages 65 and 84
- A Weber County man over age 85
- A Box Elder County man between ages 45 and 64
- A Utah County man between ages 65 and 84
- A Davis County woman between ages 65 and 84
- A Salt Lake County woman between ages 45 and 64
- A Millard County woman between ages 65 and 85
- A Washington County woman over age 85
Currently, there are 481 Utahns hospitalized due to COVID-19, including 172 in intensive care. That's down from 559 Utahns hospitalized one week ago.
Over the past week, the state is averaging 2,153 new cases reported per day and a positive test percentage of 24%.
The health department says 16,924 Utahns have now had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Frontline health care workers are receiving the vaccine first.
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.
