SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah has risen by 4,597 on Thursday, with 29 more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Seventeen of those deaths occurred before Dec. 20, according to the health department. The state medical office is investigating each death to confirm that the deaths were caused by COVID-19, which may include reviewing medical records or autopsies and may cause delays in final determinations, the health department said.
The health department estimates that there are 53,597 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. According to the health department, the average number of positive cases per day seven days a day is 2,952. The positive daily test rate for this time period is now 32.7%.
The new figures indicate an increase of 1.6% in positive cases since Wednesday. Of the 1,790,189 people tested so far to detect COVID-19 in Utah, 16.6% tested positive for the disease. The number of total tests performed increased by 22,207 as of Thursday, according to state data. Of these, 15,554 were tests from people who had not been previously tested for COVID-19.
A total of 68,030 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Utah, including 67,063 first doses and 967 second doses, according to the Department of Health. To date, a total of 157,925 doses of vaccine have been sent to Utah, although health officials point out that there is a data delay of up to seven days since doses are sent to the state, they are administered to patients and are reported to the health department.
There are currently 537 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Utah, including 187 in intensive care, according to state data. About 87% of the beds in the Utah intensive care unit were filled as of Thursday, including about 87% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 reference hospitals. Approximately 55% of non-ICU hospital beds are filled, according to state data.
The 29 deaths reported on Thursday were:
- A Cache County man who was between 45 and 64 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A woman from Davis County who was over 85 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A Davis County woman who was between 65 and 84 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A woman from Davis County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when she died
- A Davis County man who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A Davis County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- An Iron County woman who was between 25 and 44 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A man from Millard County who was between 65 and 84 years old and who was hospitalized when he died
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were not hospitalized when they died
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between the ages of 45 and 64 and were hospitalized when they died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A Salt Lake County man who was between 45 and 64 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- Two women from Salt Lake County who were over 85 and were residents of a long-term care center
- Two men from Salt Lake County who were between 65 and 84 years old and were residents in long-term care centers
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between 65 and 84 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A Utah County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A woman from Wasatch County who was over 85 and who was hospitalized when she died
- A Washington County man who was over 85 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Washington County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Washington County who was over 85 and resided in a long-term care center
- A Weber County man who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Weber County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A Weber County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Weber County man who was over 85 and resided in a long-term care center
Thursday’s total gives Utah 297,317 confirmed cases in total, with 11,578 total hospitalizations and 1,359 deaths from the disease. According to the health department, a total of 242,361 cases of COVID-19 will be recovered in Utah.
According to Jess Gomez, associate director of media relations at Intermountain Healthcare, 1,330 Utahns died due to COVID-19 in 2020, making it the third leading cause of death in the state, behind cancer and disease of the heart.
There is no COVID-19 press conference scheduled for Thursday. According to his office, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox will have to make an update at a news conference at 11:30 a.m. Friday.
Hospitals “start filling up again”
Earlier Thursday, Dr. Intermountain Healthcare doctor Edmie Stenehjem made an update on how the pandemic is currently affecting their hospital system and how the vaccine is being implemented.
Stenehjem said the recent rise in case of counts and test positivity rates is “exactly what we expected” after the Christmas and New Year holidays, but that it affects hospital systems independently.
“We had hoped that our hospitalizations would have gone down even further (before the holidays), would have gone down to a lower level, and then we would have more room to accommodate that wave,” Stenehjem said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t really happen. We were a little upset, we got some of the patients out of the ICU and the flats, but now we’re starting to fill up again.”
Utah considers its ICUs to be “functionally full” with 85% capacity, which the state is currently exceeding.
Stenehjem also said the state’s high positivity rate probably indicates the need to test more people. “This tells us that the community transmission rate is high,” he said, “and tells us we’re probably testing. If we have so many positive people, we really need to test more people to better control what’s going on with them. this epidemic here in the state of Utah. “
Responding to concerns that coronavirus vaccines are being given to employees who are not front-line health workers, Stenehjem explained that the vaccine was also administered to support staff and people who keep hospitals running.
“This includes all health workers,” he said. “It’s to make sure the health infrastructure is stable.” The vaccine was available to workers such as lab staff, billing staff and guards, as well as front-line workers, he said. “People who are not patient-focused, but make sure our healthcare networks can work and allow us to care for patients.”
The two vaccines approved for widespread use in the United States, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, were made available to health care workers and long-term care center residents. It will soon be available to workers in industries that are considered essential, starting with public school teachers.
Contributing: Graham Dudley, KSL.com
Methodology:
Test results now include PCR test data and antigen testing. Positive COVID-19 test results are reported to the health department immediately after confirmation, but negative results may not be reported within 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported daily by the Utah Department of Health includes all cases of COVID-19 since the Utah outbreak began, including those that are currently infected, those that have recovered 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 who has not died.
The reference hospitals are the 16 hospitals in Utah with the capacity to provide the best COVID-19 health care.
According to the health department, deaths reported by the state usually occur two to seven days before their complaint. Some deaths may be even further back, especially if the person is from Utah but has died in another state.
The health department reports confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19 cases as defined in the case reviewed by the Council of State and territorial epidemiologists. Death counts may change as case investigations are completed.
According to the health department, for deaths that are reported as deaths from COVID-19, the person would not have died if they did not have COVID-19.
The data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit your local health district website.
You can learn more about Utah health guidance levels at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
The 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 scroll down to the “Data Notes” section at bottom of the page.
Jacob Klopfenstein