Health department reports 433 new coronavirus cases, 2 deaths Saturday in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health is reporting 433 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state and two new deaths from the disease Saturday.

That brings Utah’s totals to 54,272 confirmed cases and 420 deaths since the pandemic began. The total number of deaths in the state increased only by one Saturday, but health department spokesperson Charla Haley explained that one Salt Lake County long-term care facility resident, who was previously counted, has been removed from the total after further investigation.

Haley said the two deaths include:

• A male San Juan County resident between ages 45 and 64 who was hospitalized at the time of death
• A male Salt Lake County resident between ages 65 and 84 who was also hospitalized.

The health department estimates that 45,896 of the total cases have now recovered from the virus, making it approximately 7,956 active cases. The department is reporting that 4,249 new Utahns were tested.

Case counts have ticked up in the past few days, and as a result the seven-day new case average is back over 400 at 406. The positive test percentage during that time is 9.4%.

Currently, the health department says 120 Utahns are hospitalized for COVID-19. That includes 49 patients in the intensive care unit; overall, nearly 70% of the state’s ICU beds are occupied and about 54% of its non-ICU beds are occupied.

Salt Lake County accounted for 177 of Saturday’s new cases, Utah County had 130, Davis had 31, the Southwest Utah health district had 27, and Weber and Morgan counties had 23 new cases together.

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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