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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's number of COVID-19 cases increased by 584 on Monday, with three more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
That marks the lowest single-day new COVID-19 case total since September. It's the second time in the new year Utah has reported under 1,000 cases, along with 859 new cases reported on Jan. 25.
The health department estimates there are now 37,692 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. Monday's rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is 1,425, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period is now 16.7%.
There are 402 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 129 in intensive care, state data shows. About 80% of all intensive care unit beds in Utah hospitals are occupied Monday, including about 82% of ICU beds in the state's 16 referral hospitals. About 54% of all Utah hospital beds are occupied, according to the health department.
Vaccinations update from Gov. Cox
A total of 311,785 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 310,692 Sunday. Of those, 63,711 are second doses of the vaccine.
Gov. Spencer Cox told KSL NewsRadio's Lee Lonsberry that Utah's vaccination distribution rate has seen an uptick in recent weeks. In the last two weeks, the state has burned through its vaccine backlog; every dose since has been distributed within seven days, Cox said.
"That's just huge news for our state," Cox said in a Monday interview.
But, things aren't perfect, he said, and "we just need more vaccines." According to the governor, President Joe Biden's administration has promised states that more doses are on the way.
"That's just great for everyone," Cox said.
The state is still getting about 33,000-40,000 first vaccine doses per week, and Cox said the state's rolling seven-day average of vaccine administration won't increase until more vaccine doses are given to Utah.
"That's what's kind of holding us back now," Cox said.
Davis County Health Department announced on Monday that it has received additional vaccines and has new appointments available on its website.
The next big change will come when the new vaccines currently under development get approved for use, like the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, he said. When that happens, the state anticipates it will jump from about 33,000 doses per week to 70,000 per week. After the AstraZeneca vaccine is approved for use, that number will likely increase to more than 100,000 doses per week.
"If we're getting our 100,000 per week, now we can really impact things fast and save lives and get back to normal much more quickly than we expected," Cox said.
The state is currently in the process of getting its infrastructure ready to handle such large distribution amounts in preparation for the expected distribution increase.
Utah hospitalizations and deaths
Monday's new numbers indicate a 0.2% increase in positive cases since Sunday. Of the 2,028,163 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% have tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests conducted increased by 4,818 as of Monday, and 3,516 of those were tests of people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19, according to the health department.
Summit County officials reported that a third resident tested positive for the COVID-19 variant commonly referred to as the "U.K. variant." According to officials, the resident is a woman between the ages of 20 and 44 years old. The U.K. variant is believed to be more contagious than other strains of the coronavirus, but COVID-19 vaccines are believed to be effective against the strain.
The three deaths reported Monday include:
- A Box Elder County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
Monday's totals give Utah 347,208 total confirmed cases, with 13,515 total hospitalizations and 1,668 total deaths from the disease. A total of 307,848 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, state data shows.
Cox is scheduled to provide a pandemic update at 11 a.m. Thursday, according to the governor's office.
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.
