SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s number of COVID-19 cases increased by 1,299 on Wednesday, with 17 more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The health department estimates there are 29,337 active cases of the disease as of Wednesday — the first day that estimate has dipped below 30,000 since October 28.
Utah Department of Health Executive Director Rich Saunders told the Utah Senate Health and Human Services Committee Wednesday afternoon that Utah will have enough doses to vaccinate every Utahn before June, according to the Deseret News.
“We will reach all of the adult population, if 100% of them wanted it, by the end of May,” Saunders said.
The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 1,053, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period reported via the “people over people” method is now 15.3%. The positive test rate per day for that time period reported via the “test over test” method is now 7%.
This week, the health department began reporting two different methods for calculating the seven-day rolling average positive test rate per day. The “people over people” method is calculated by dividing the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 by the total number of people tested. The health department has been using that method to calculate the rolling average since the start of the pandemic.
The agency is now also reporting the “test over test” method, which is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered. The “test over test” method accounts for duplicate positive and negative COVID-19 tests, where the “people over people” method does not.
The “people over people” method biases the average higher, while the “test over test” method is biased lower, and the true average is thought to be somewhere in the middle, according to health department state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn. The health department will continue to provide both reporting methods daily, which will help better compare Utah’s pandemic to that of other states, Dunn said.
There are 323 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 131 in intensive care, state data shows. About 80% of all intensive care unit beds in Utah are occupied as of Wednesday, including about 84% of ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals, according to state data. About 53% of non-ICU hospital beds in Utah are filled Wednesday.
A total of 442,476 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 425,698 Tuesday. Of those, 117,305 are second doses of the vaccine.
The new numbers indicate a 0.4% increase in positive cases since Tuesday. Of the 2,094,809 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% have tested positive for COVID-19.
The total number of COVID-19 conducted in Utah since the beginning of the pandemic, including duplicate positive and negative tests, is now 3,522,246. That is an increase of 23,334 tests conducted since Tuesday, and 8,988 of those were tests of people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
The 17 deaths reported Wednesday were:
- A Box Elder County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Box Elder County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Carbon County woman who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Cache County man who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Tooele County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Utah County man who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Utah County man who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Wasatch County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Weber County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Weber County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Weber County man who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Weber County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
Wednesday’s totals give Utah 357,339 total confirmed cases, with 14,007 total hospitalizations and 1,765 total deaths from the disease. An estimated 326,237 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, the health department reported.
There is not a COVID-19 news conference scheduled for Wednesday. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is scheduled to provide a pandemic update at 11 a.m. Thursday.
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.
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.