SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 1,201 on Tuesday, with another 17 deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Six of those deaths occurred before January 13, but are still being investigated by the state medical examiner’s office, according to the health department.
The Department of Health estimates that there are now 36,747 active COVID-19 cases in Utah. According to the health department, the average number of positive cases of seven days a day is now at 1,394. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 16.6%.
There are 396 COVID-19 patients currently being admitted to Utah, including 130 in intensive care. About 76% of all beds for intensive care units have been occupied in Utah since Tuesday, including about 79% of the ICU beds in the 16 referral hospitals in the state. About 52% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied, according to data from the Department of Health.
A total of 325,457 vaccines were administered in the state, compared to 311,785 on Monday.
The new figures point to a 0.3% increase in positive cases since Monday. Of the 2,035,662 people tested so far for COVID-19 in Utah, 17.1% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests performed increased by 14,840, of which 7,499 were tests of people not previously tested for COVID-19.
The total Tuesday total gives Utah 348,409 total confirmed cases, with 13,576 hospitalizations and 1,685 deaths due to the disease. An estimated 309,977 cases in Utah COVID-19 are now considered recovery, according to the Department of Health.
The Utah government, Spencer Cox, will deliver a pandemic update at 11 a.m. Thursday, according to the governor’s office.
This story will be updated.
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.
The Department of Health reports both confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths as defined by the case set forth 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