Health department reports another 369 coronavirus cases, 2 deaths Saturday

SALT LAKE CITY — In its daily update of the state of COVID-19 in Utah, the Utah Health Department reported an additional 369 confirmed cases and two deaths from the disease Saturday.

That brings Utah’s total counts since the pandemic began to 48,814 confirmed cases and 385 deaths.

In an email, health department spokesman Tom Hudachko said the two deceased Utahns were both Salt Lake County residents: a woman over age 85, who was a resident of a long-term care facility, and a man between ages 65 and 84, who was also the resident of a care facility. Salt Lake County residents account for 58% of the state’s total deaths.

Tooele County and the TriCounty health districts — the latter of which comprises Uintah, Daggett and Duchesne counties — are now the only areas in Utah that have not recorded a resident death due to the novel coronavirus. Daggett County has yet to report even a single positive case.

The health department says it is reporting the results of 2,966 new individuals tested in Saturday’s update. Overall, the state has conducted 763,337 total tests on 622,363 individuals.

Over the past week, the state has averaged 354 new coronavirus cases a day, and its positive test percentage in that time is 8.7%. There are currently 131 people hospitalized for the new coronavirus in Utah, down by 36 people from just one week ago.

The state reports it is using about 65% of its intensive care unit beds at this time and 52.5% of its non-ICU beds. Of the 2,899 total Utahns hospitalized for COVID-19 so far, their average age has been just over 53. About 30% of those hospitalized have been 65 or older, and just over half had at least one preexisting condition, the health department says.

The department estimates that 40,352 Utahns have recovered from COVID-19.

Methodology:

Test results now include data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive COVID-19 test results are reported to the health department immediately after they are confirmed, but negative test results may not be reported for 24 to 72 hours.

The total number of cases reported by the Utah Department of Health each day includes all cases of COVID-19 since Utah’s outbreak began, including those who are currently infected, those who 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 has not died.

Deaths reported by the state typically occurred two to seven days prior to when they are reported, according to the health department. Some deaths may be from even further back, especially if the person is from Utah but has died in another state.

The health department reports both confirmed and probable COVID-19 case deaths per the case definition outlined by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. The death counts are subject to change as case investigations are completed.

Data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit your local health district’s website.

Information is 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 the bottom of the page.

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