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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah will soon close many of its state-sponsored COVID-19 testing sites and stop reporting case counts each day as cases continue to rapidly decline into spring.
Health officials reported 255 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, as well as four additional deaths.
The state confirmed 112 cases on Friday, 87 cases on Saturday and 65 cases on Sunday, according to the data. Nine previously-reported cases were removed from the case tally after further examination. School-age children accounted for 32 of the new cases reported on Monday.
"As the state of Utah transitions to a 'steady state' response to the pandemic, the Utah Department of Health will transition to a more long-term, sustainable response. Many (state health department)-sponsored testing sites are closing permanently and some will transition to private, for-profit vendors," a statement from the health department on Monday states.
As of Monday, the rolling, seven-day average for new cases stood at just 116 per day — down significantly from the pandemic record of 10,967 on Jan. 19. The seven-day average for positive tests is 4.2%, as community transmission levels remain low. Currently, 102 patients are hospitalized across Utah with the coronavirus, a decrease of eight since Friday.
State health officials also noted they will discontinue releasing new COVID-19 statistics each day on March 31. Then, case counts will be updated each week on Thursday, at the coronavirus dashboard page at coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts/.
"This is similar to how often data on other respiratory diseases, like flu, are reported," health officials said in a statement.
The "steady state" response means the pandemic response is shifting to the responsibility of private health care systems by the end of this month, Gov. Spencer Cox has said.
"Let me be clear that this is not the end of COVID, but it is ... the beginning of treating COVID as we do other seasonal respiratory viruses," the governor said during a Feb. 18 news conference.
Officials say testing remains "an important tool" for residents who may need treatment for COVID-19. Anyone with "significant" underlying conditions, or who plans to visit someone who's vulnerable, health care workers and others who work at congregate settings should continue to get tested whenever it is needed, the health department said Monday.
People who plan to travel somewhere that requires a negative COVID-19 test should also seek testing, officials said.
The state health department encourages people to visit its website coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations/ before visiting a testing location to get the most up-to-date information. If looking for a specific test for travel requirements, people can search by test type on the website.
Travel testing will no longer be offered by the state health department after March 31.
Two deaths reported Monday occurred before Feb. 28. The latest deaths include:
- A Salt Lake County woman, between the ages of 65 and 84, who was not hospitalized when she died
- A Cache County man, older than 85, not hospitalized
- A Utah County man, 65-84, not hospitalized
- An Emery County man, 65-84, unknown hospitalization status
