Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's number of COVID-19 cases increased by 812 on Wednesday, with 14 more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The health department estimates there are now 19,001 active cases of the disease in Utah.
The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 768, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period reported with the "people over people" method is now 13.1%. The positive test rate per day seven-day average calculated with the "test over test" method is now 6.1%.
There are 222 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 91 in intensive care, state data shows. About 74% of all intensive care unit beds in Utah are now occupied, including about 77% of ICU beds in the state's 16 referral hospitals. About 51% of all non-ICU hospital beds are now occupied, according to health department data.
A total of 641,881 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 623,876 Tuesday. Of those, 221,619 are second doses of the vaccine, state data shows.
The new numbers indicate a 0.2% increase in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,180,594 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.9% have tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests conducted in Utah is now 3,744,344, up 19,389 since Tuesday. Of those, 7,631 were tests of people who had not been tested previously for COVID-19.
Related:
Gov. Cox: Honor system a necessity with next phase of Utah vaccine rollout
The state of Utah will depend on the honor system starting next week, when more people become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Utah.The 14 deaths reported Wednesday include:
- Two Salt Lake County men who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were hospitalized when they died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Sevier County man who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Tooele County man who was between the ages of 25 and 44 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- Two Utah 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 of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when she died
- Two Salt Lake County women who were over the age of 85 and were not hospitalized when they died
- A Salt Lake County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Utah County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Washington County woman who was over the age of 85 and was not hospitalized when she died
Wednesday's totals give Utah 368,601 total confirmed cases, with 14,554 total hospitalizations and 1,879 total deaths from the disease. An estimated 347,721 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, according to the health department.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide a pandemic update at a news conference at 11 a.m. Thursday.
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.
The "people over people" method for the seven-day average positive test rate is calculated by dividing the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 by the total number of people tested. The "test over test" method is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered.
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.
