State Leaders Hold Update On COVID-19 After 30 More Utahns Die

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – An additional 30 Utahns have lost their lives because of COVID-19, which means 1,126 of the state’s residents have died as a direct result of the virus.

There are currently 556 people who are hospitalized with COVID-19, and another 3,203 have tested positive.

Gov. Gary Herbert was joined by state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn and Rich Saunders, interim executive director for the Utah Department of Health, for a press conference following the report of Thursday’s record death toll.

For more information, go to coronavirus.utah.gov.

Testing

The UDOH reported a total of 1,613,248 Utahns have been tested for COVID-19 so far. Thats an increase of 12,885 tests from Wednesday’s report.

Of those, a total of 243,918 have tested positive for COVID-19, which is an increase of 3,202 cases from yesterday.

The rolling seven-day average for percent of positive tests is 2,570 per day, and the rolling seven-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests is 22.26%.

Hospitalizations

Currently, there are 556 people hospitalized with COVID-19, and 211 of those are in intensive care units. Another 15 people are hospitalized with suspected cases of COVID-19.

Utah’s intensive care units are currently 95.5% full, which is more than 10% above the threshold for quality ICU care due to the number of caregivers.

The ICU beds in the state’s 16 hospitals that are best equipped to handle COVID-19 patients are over capacity. There are 461 beds available, and there are currently 446 patients in those intensive care units.

Deaths

Health officials reported 30 more Utahns have died from COVID-19, which is a new single-day record for reported deaths in the state.

Dunn noted that the recorded deaths happened over a period of four weeks, and some are likely due to infections that happened during the Thanksgiving holiday.

To date, the virus has killed 1,126 of the state’s residents.

The following individuals’ deaths were reported Thursday:

1. Female, older than 85, Morgan County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
2. Female, between 65-84, Weber County resident, hospitalized at time of death
3. Male, between 65-84, Iron County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
4. Male, between 65-84, Washington County resident, hospitalized at time of death
5. Female, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
6. Female, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
7. Male, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
8. Male, between 45-64, Weber County resident, long-term care facility resident
9. Female, older than 85, Weber County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
10. Male, between 45-64, Carbon County resident, hospitalized at time of death
11. Male, between 65-84, Cache County resident, hospitalized at time of death
12. Female, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
13. Female, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
14. Male, between 45-64, Weber County resident, long-term care facility resident
15. Female, between 65-84, Utah County resident, long-term care facility resident
16. Female, between 65-84, Utah County resident, long-term care facility resident
17. Female, between 65-84, Box Elder County resident, hospitalized at time of death
18. Female, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
19. Male, between 65-84, Davis County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
20. Female, older than 85, Sevier County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
21. Male, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
22. Male, between 65-84, Sanpete County resident, hospitalized at time of death
23. Female, between 45-64, Weber County resident, long-term care facility resident
24. Male, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
25. Female, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
26. Male, between 65-84, Cache County resident, hospitalized at time of death
27. Male, between 65-84, Utah County resident, hospitalized at time of death
28. Male, between 65-84, Utah County resident, long-term care facility resident
29. Male, between 45-64, Utah County resident, hospitalized at time of death
30. Female, between 65-84, Weber County resident, hospitalized at time of death