Daily Coronavirus Case Count Drops To Less Than 1000; 3 More Deaths

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Officials from the Utah Department of Health reported less than 1,000 new coronavirus cases in the last day. The number of people hospitalized has also dropped to 390; however, there were an additional three deaths.

The deaths bring the total number of Utahns lost to COVID-19 to 1,736 – 100 more in the last week. Health officials said the deaths reported reflected the numbers of people who died specifically because of the effects of the coronavirus disease.

“The Office of the Medical Examiner conducts thorough investigations of all potential COVID-related deaths. These investigations can take several weeks to complete,” officials said.

An increase of 908 new cases since Friday was reported.

Testing

The Department of Health reported a total of 2,076,035 Utah residents have been tested for the novel coronavirus – an increase of 5,845 of the total reported since Saturday. Of those tested, 16.5 percent were positive.

Officials reported 354,608 residents have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began – an increase of 908 cases in the last day. There has been an increase of 7,984 in the last week.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 1,143 per day – down around 320 since last Sunday. The rolling seven-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests was 16.6 percent.

Vaccinations

The vaccine has been administered to 312,022 people in Utah, including health workers, educators and residents age 70 and older.

The state has administered over 413,937 first and second vaccinations. Of those vaccinated, 101,915 people have been fully immunized with both doses.

According to numbers reported by the health department, 9,852 vaccines have been administered since Friday, and 103,245 in the last week.

The number of vaccines delivered to the state was just over 493,600.

Hospitalizations

The health department reported 329 people were being treated for COVID-19 in Utah hospitals. Total hospitalizations since the pandemic began was 13,862 people.

Utah officials said 81.6 percent of the 537 ICU beds across the state were full. Of those, 120 were being used by patients confirmed to have COVID-19. An additional 62 patients inn ICU beds were suspected of having COVID-19, pending additional testing.

The remaining ICU beds were used by patients with other critical medical conditions. Hospital officials have said, in addition to the beds nearing capacity, there was staffing for around 85 percent of those beds.

Deaths

An additional three Utahns have died in the last day, according to the Utah Department of Health. The latest COVID-19 deaths included one woman and two men.

All three were hospitalized when they succumbed to the disease.

There have been 1,736 total deaths of residents from the disease in the Beehive State since the pandemic began – an increase of 71 in the last week.

Tooele County

Officials reported the death of a Tooele County man older than the age of 85. His identity was not released. His death brought the total in the county to 25.

Utah County

One man from Utah County was between the ages of 45 to 64 when he died of COVID-19. The county has reported 295 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Weber County

Health officials also reported one Weber County woman who died after contracting COVID-19. She was between the ages of 65 to 84.

The county has reported 143 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, and 143 in the area covered by the Weber-Morgan Health Department, which includes Morgan County.

National/Worldwide Numbers

There have been nearly 26.9 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States – with just under 1 million new cases in the last week. Nearly 463,000 Americans have died of the disease, according to numbers compiled by the Coronavirus Resource Center at John Hopkins University.

Across the globe there have been over 105.9 million cases and 2,312,845 deaths – over 100,000 in the last week.

With just 4 percent of the worldwide population, the United States has accounted for 25.4 percent of the global cases and 20 percent of the deaths since the pandemic began.

The first US case was confirmed on January 21, 2020. The number of new cases in the nation has skyrocketed in November, with a spike significantly higher than any other country.

During the 2019-2020 flu season, an estimates 38 million people caught the influenza virus, requiring 18 million doctor visits and causing 22,000 deaths, according for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Around 35,900 deaths have been attributed to the flu annually, going back to the 2010-2011 flu season. Only twice during that time has the number of deaths exceeded 50,000 – once in 2014-2015, when there were 51,000 deaths, and again in 2017-2018, when there were an estimates 61,000 deaths.

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Coronavirus Resources

Have you or a family member been affected by coronavirus issues in Utah? KSL wants to hear from you. Contact KSL by emailing social@ksl.com.

What is COVID-19? Here’s What You Need To Know To Stay Healthy: ksltv.com/432037/what-is-covid-19/

Latest coronavirus stories from KSL can be found at ksltv.com/coronavirus/.

Where in the world has the coronavirus already appeared? See the map: ksltv.com/?p=432035

Your Life Your Health: How can parents prepare their home, children against coronavirus: ksltv.com/?p=432060

How do I prevent it?

The CDC has some simple recommendations, most of which are the same for preventing other respiratory illnesses or the flu:

• Avoid close contact with people who may be sick
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay home when you are sick
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. Always wash your hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
• If soap and water is not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

The CDC does not recommend wearing a face mask respirator to protect yourself from coronavirus unless a healthcare professional recommends it.