SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 2,009 on Wednesday, with seven more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The Department of Health now estimates that there are 46,034 active cases of the disease in Utah. According to the Department of Health, the average number of positive cases of seven days per day is now 1,758. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 18.4%.
There are 452 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 161 in intensive care, according to state data. About 84% of all beds for intensive care units in Utah were occupied as of Wednesday, including about 89% of the ICU beds in the 16 referral hospitals in the state, according to the Department of Health. About 52% of the non-ICU hospital beds are filled.
A total of 250,448 vaccines were administered in the state, compared to 237,637 on Tuesday. Of these, 37,335 are second doses of the vaccine, according to state data.
The new numbers point to a 0.6% increase in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 1,989,106 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% tested positive for the disease. According to the Department of Health, the number of total tests increased by 16,644 as of Wednesday, of which 10,156 were tests for people who had not been tested for COVID-19 before.
The seven deaths reported on Wednesday include:
- A Grand County man over the age of 85 who was admitted to hospital when he died
- A Millard County man aged 65 to 84 was admitted to hospital when he died
- A man from Tooele County who was over 85 and was admitted to hospital when he died
- A man in Utah County who was between 45 and 64 years old and was admitted to the hospital when he died
- A woman in Utah County who was between 45 and 64 years old and was admitted to the hospital when she died
- A Washington County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and was admitted to the hospital when he died
- A Washington County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
The total Wednesday’s total gives 340,684 confirmed cases to Utah, with 13,217 total hospitalizations and 1,620 deaths due to the disease. A total of 293,030 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovery, according to state data.
There is no COVID-19 news conference scheduled for Wednesday. The Utah government, Spencer Cox, will provide an update on the pandemic on Thursday at 11 p.m.
Methods:
Test results now contain data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive COVID-19 test results are reported to the health department immediately after confirmation, but negative test results may not be reported 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported each day by the Utah Department of Health includes all cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak of Utah, including those currently infected, those recovering 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 did not die.
Reference hospitals are the 16 Utah hospitals that can provide the best COVID-19 health care.
According to the Department of Health, deaths usually occurred two to seven days before they were reported. Some deaths can come back even further, especially if the person is from Utah but died in another state.
According to the Department of Health, as well as likely COVID-19 deaths are confirmed as defined by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. The death rates could change as case investigations are completed.
For deaths reported as COVID-19 deaths, the person would not have died if they had not had COVID-19, according to the Department of Health.
Data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. Visit the website of your local health district for more localized data.
More information on Utah’s health education levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
Information comes 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 browse to the “Data Notes” section at the bottom of the page.
Jacob Klopfenstein