SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health said there are 778 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight more coronavirus-related deaths in the state Saturday.
The state has also administered 18,383 more doses of the coronavirus vaccine since Friday.
Overall, that brings Utah to 366,034 total confirmed cases, 1,842 deaths and 598,434 vaccines administered since the pandemic began. The health department says 200,651 of those vaccines have been second doses.
Over the past week, Utah is averaging 779 more COVID-19 cases per day and a positive test rate of 6.12%. There are currently 242 Utahns reported hospitalized due to COVID-19, including 99 in intensive care. That’s contributing to a 77% ICU utilization rate statewide.
One month ago, the state had a rolling seven-day average of 1,924 cases per day and 551 people were hospitalized.
Saturday’s numbers come as 19,646 more test results were reported.
The deaths announced in Saturday’s report include:
- A Salt Lake County woman over age 85 who was not hospitalized when she died
- Two Salt Lake County men between ages 65 and 85 who were hospitalized when they died
- A Salt Lake County man between ages 46 and 64 who was hospitalized
- A Salt Lake County woman between ages 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
- A Utah County woman between ages 45 and 64 who was hospitalized
- A Weber County woman over age 85 who was hospitalized
- A Weber County woman between ages 65 and 84 who was hospitalized
Salt Lake County now accounts for almost 40% of Utah’s coronavirus-related deaths.
There is no coronavirus news conference from state leaders scheduled for over the weekend. Gov. Spencer Cox addressed the public on Thursday, announcing that Utahns age 65 and older are now eligible to sign up for the coronavirus vaccine.
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.
Referral hospitals are the 16 Utah hospitals with the capability to provide the best COVID-19 health care.
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.
For deaths that are reported as COVID-19 deaths, the person would not have died if they did not have COVID-19, according to the health department.
The “people over people” method for the seven-day average positive test rate is calculated by dividing the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 by the total number of people tested. The “test over test” method is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered.
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.
More information about Utah’s health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
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.