SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 1,299 on Wednesday, with another 17 deaths, according to the Utah Department of Health.
According to the health department, there are 29,337 active cases of the disease as of Wednesday – the first day that has dropped below 30,000 since October 28.
Rich Saunders, executive director of the Department of Health, told the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services in Utah on Wednesday afternoon that Utah will have enough doses to vaccinate each Utahn before June.
“We will reach all the adult population by the end of May if 100% of them want it,” Saunders said.
According to the Department of Health, the current average number of positive cases per day on seven days is now 1,053. The positive test rate per day for the period reported according to the “people on people” method is now 15.3%. The positive test rate per day for the period reported according to the “test by test” method is now 7%.
The Department of Health this week began reporting two different methods for calculating the seven-day running average positive test score per day. The “people about people” method is calculated by dividing the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 by the total number of people. The Department of Health has been using the method to calculate the moving average since the start of the pandemic.
The agency now also reports the ‘test over test’ method, which is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered. The “test over test” method is responsible for double positive and negative COVID-19 tests, where the “people over people” method is not.
According to the state epidemiologist dr. Angela Dunn, the method “people over people” the bias of the average is higher, while the “test over test” method is lower, and the actual average is presumably somewhere in the middle. The Department of Health will continue to offer both reporting methods on a daily basis, which could better compare the Utah pandemic to that of other states, Dunn said.
There are 323 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 131 in intensive care. About 80 percent of all intensive care unit beds in Utah are occupied as of Wednesday, including about 84 percent of the ICU beds in the 16 referral hospitals in the state, according to state data. About 53% of the non-ICU hospital beds in Utah are full on Wednesday.
A total of 442,476 vaccines were administered in the state, compared to 425,698 on Tuesday. Of these, 117,305 are second doses of the vaccine.
The new numbers point to a 0.4% increase in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,094,809 people tested so far for COVID-19 in Utah, 17.1% tested positive for COVID-19.
The total number of COVID-19s conducted since the start of the Utah pandemic, including double positive and negative tests, is now 3,522,246, an increase of 23,334 tests conducted since Tuesday, and 8,988 of them were tests of people not previously tested for COVID-19.
The 17 deaths reported on Wednesday were:
- A Box Elder County man aged between 65 and 84 who was admitted to hospital when he died
- A Box Elder County woman who was between 65 and 84 and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Carbon County woman over the age of 85 who was hospitalized when she died
- A Cache County man over the age of 85 who was admitted to hospital when he died
- A Salt Lake County man over the age of 85 who was hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man over the age of 85 who was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not admitted to the hospital when he died
- A Salt Lake County woman who was over 85 and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A man from Tooele County who was between 65 and 84 and was admitted to hospital when he died
- A woman in Utah County who was over 85 and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Utah County man over the age of 85 who was hospitalized when he died
- A man from Utah County who was over 85 and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Wasatch County woman over the age of 85 who was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Weber County man who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A Weber County woman over the age of 85 who was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Weber County man over the age of 85 who was hospitalized when he died
- A Weber County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
The total Wednesday’s total cases confirmed Utah 357,339 total cases, with 14,007 total hospitalizations and 1765 total deaths due to the disease. An estimated 326,237 cases in Utah COVID-19 are now considered recovery, the Department of Health reported.
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 confirmed as well as probable COVID-19 deaths as defined by the Council of State and 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.