SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 2,146 on Tuesday, with another 26 reported deaths, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Fifteen of the deaths occurred before December 22, the health department reported. The State Medical Investigator’s Office is investigating each death to determine COVID-19 as the cause, which could delay the reporting of deaths by several weeks.
There are now an estimated 54,792 active COVID-19 cases in Utah, according to data from the Department of Health. According to the health department, the average number of positive cases of seven days per day is now 2,946. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 29.3%.
There are 560 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 187 in intensive care. About 85% of the beds for intensive care units in Utah were occupied as of Tuesday, including about 89% of the ICU beds in the 16 referral hospitals in the state.
A total of 110,530 vaccines were administered in the state, compared to 103,547 on Monday.
The new numbers point to a 0.7% increase in positive cases since Monday. Of the 1,843,113 people tested to date for COVID-19 in Utah, 16.9% tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests performed increased by 17,782 as of Monday, of which 11,991 were tests of people not previously tested for COVID-19.
The total number of deaths Tuesday in Utah confirmed 309,629 cases, with 12,059 total hospitalizations and 1,422 deaths due to the disease. An estimated 253,415 cases in Utah COVID-19 are now considered recovery.
There is no COVID-19 news conference for Tuesday. Utah officials typically present at news conferences on Wednesdays or Thursdays once a week.
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 is provided by 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