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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah health officials on Monday reported 10,272 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, as well as 11 additional deaths.
Of the weekend total, 4,801 of the new cases reported resulted from Friday testing, 3,208 cases are from Saturday and 2,324 cases are from Sunday. School-aged children account for 1,306 of the weekend cases, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The update shows that Utah's seven-day running average of new cases continues to drop drastically. It's now at 5,369 new per day, down 1,674 cases per day from Friday's total, and half of the record-high average of 10,959 set on Jan. 18 at the height of the current surge.
While it was unclear last week if that decline was the result of fewer tests being conducted — after the state asked people who feel mild symptoms to stay at home and assume they have COVID-19 — the test positivity rate is also starting to decline heading into a new week.
The state reports that the rate is still very high, at 44.5% for "people over people" testing, and 28.2% using the "test over test" method. Both figures are backdated to Jan. 25 but both are starting to drop for the first time in weeks.
The "people over people" test positivity rate has increased every single day from the time it was about 12% on Dec. 20, until it reached nearly 47% on Jan. 21. The percentage has now dropped every day since, down about 2.5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, five of the 11 new deaths reported Monday occurred before the New Year, state health officials said. The 11 latest deaths include:
- A Davis County woman between the ages of 65 and 84, who was not hospitalized at the time of her death
- A Salt Lake County man, 65-84, not hospitalized.
- A Salt Lake County man, 65-84, not hospitalized.
- A Salt Lake County man, 45-64, hospitalized.
- A Salt Lake County woman, 25-44, not hospitalized.
- A Salt Lake County man, 45-64, not hospitalized.
- A Sevier County man, 45-64, not hospitalized.
- A Utah County man, 65-84, not hospitalized.
- A Washington County man, 45-64, hospitalized.
- A Washington County man, 65-84, hospitalized.
- A Washington County woman 45-64, hospitalized.
The state health department reports that, in all, 4,118 Utahns have died as a result of COVID-19 since early 2020.
There are currently 813 people hospitalized as a result of COVID-19, according to the health department. That's a decrease from 854 hospitalizations reported on Friday. Of the current hospital cases, 180 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care unit beds. Utah's referral center ICU bed occupancy rate is now 86% and the statewide capacity is 83%, dipping just below the utilization threshold of 85%.
There were also 12,711 COVID-19 vaccines administered over the weekend. The health department reports that nearly 60% of all Utahns have been fully vaccinated, while 795,240 of the over 1.9 million Utahns in that category have received a booster shot.
Based on trends reported over the past 28 days, the health department reports that people who are unvaccinated are at 2.3 times at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, 4.7 times at greater risk of being hospitalized, and 10.5 at greater risk of dying because of COVID-19.
2 more high-volume testing sites
The Utah Department of Health on Monday also announced that it has doubled the number of high-volume testing sites in the state that are designed to test up to 1,200 people daily. The two new sites will be at the University of Utah and Utah Valley University.
The new University of Utah site, located at 595 S. Guardsman Way in Salt Lake City — the parking lot where many tailgate events are held for Rice-Eccles Stadium events — is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The Utah Valley University site, located at Parking Lot 10 (1200 W. 800 South in Orem), is open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Testing appointments aren't required but are recommended for either site. Both have the same models, too: people who come to the sites are asked to self-swab anterior nasal swab PCR tests. There are no age limits, but parents are required to swab their children.
The two locations join similar sites at the Maverik Center in West Valley City and Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo.
Details and appointments about those sites and the dozens of other COVID-19 testing sites across the state can be found online through the state's COVID-19 response website.
