SALT LAKE CITY – After taking off on New Year’s Day, the Utah Department of Health’s first report, in 2021, shows 5,042 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 new deaths in the state.
The department says 3,110 of those cases were reported Friday.
With the update, Utah has now seen 281,654 confirmed cases and 1,212 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The health department says 14,900 more Utahns were tested on Thursday’s figures and 1,740,903 Utahns have now been tested. There are currently 487 Utahs hospitalized because of the coronavirus and 11,101 total hospitalizations since the pandemic hit Utah last year.
Over the past week, the state has averaged 2,506 new cases a day and a positive evidence rate of 27.4%.
There is no coronavirus press conference scheduled by state leaders for the weekend. Gov. Gary Herbert, who chaired most of the press conferences in 2020, is stepping down and on Monday will be formally replaced by elected governor Spencer Cox.
This story will be updated.
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 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.
Graham Dudley