Utah’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 700 on Friday

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah’s deaths from COVID-19 surpassed 700 on Friday, with 14 more reported, and hospitalizations related to the disease hit an all-time high in the state.

Utah health officials have also confirmed 2,150 new cases of COVID-19 out of 12,157 people tested, with a positive rate of 12.5%. The seven-day moving average of positive tests is now 2,616 per day, and the average rate of positive tests is 23.5%.

The number of cases and tests reported Friday, however, was incomplete and “artificially low” due to “significant technical difficulties” with the Utah Department of Health’s data system, officials said. Cases and tests left out of Friday’s report will be added to Saturday’s report, meaning the number of cases and tests for the day will appear artificially high.

The latest data on deaths and hospitalizations have not been impacted by technical difficulties, according to the state health department. Currently, 473 patients are hospitalized with the disease in Utah, five more than what was hospitalized on Thursday.

Hive State’s intensive care units were 84.7% full overall, but referral intensive care units capable of treating patients with the most severe coronavirus were 87% full, according to the Utah Department of Health.

As infection rates continue to climb in the state, demand for testing is also increasing, with some residents reporting waits of a day or more for a testing appointment.

Officials are encouraging people with symptoms to call different testing sites, which can be found at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations, to locate one with availability.

“People shouldn’t give up if they can’t find a testing location, just be prepared to call,” said Joe Dougherty, spokesperson for the Utah Emergency Management Division.

“There is nothing wrong with looking around and finding other places. Maybe the closest to you may not be the most convenient, ”he said.

The state, meanwhile, is working to provide more specific information about where testing is available on any given day, according to Dougherty.

While PCR testing remains the most common in Utah, rapid antigenic testing of asymptomatic individuals is increasingly seen as essential in tackling the outbreak – and state officials are working to provide more of these test supplies to the state.

Utah’s current testing capacity remains between 20,000 and 30,000 per day, not counting the rapid antigen tests that will be distributed to students as Utah undergoes a massive effort to help universities and technical colleges implement weekly testing.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Governor Gary Herbert’s most recent public health order requires everyone in Utah’s higher education system who lives on campus or attends at least one in-person class per week to take a weekly test. Colleges are required to implement the tests by January 1 at the latest.

The system has 230,000 students in total – but officials are struggling to count how many actually live on campus or take classes in person, according to a spokeswoman for the Utah Higher Education System.

The state decided to target its university population at the suggestion of Dr Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, and Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People between the ages of 15 and 24 make up a large portion of the state’s confirmed cases, according to data from the health department. Many are also likely to be asymptomatic and to spread the disease unknowingly.

Nearly a million rapid antigen tests had been promised the state by the federal government before state officials met with Birx and Redfield, but Utah officials have called for more in order to implement asymptomatic testing among college students, Dougherty said.

Antigen testing is less taxing on state resources because it does not need to be processed in a laboratory. Samples are collected by a less invasive nasal swab method than those collected for PCR testing, but require someone with specific certification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to administer the test to ensure sample integrity. .

The state expects 100,000 of these Abbott-made tests in the coming week, he said, followed by 125,000 more tests. Abbott tests cost $ 5, but prices for other rapid antigen tests vary. The federal government sends the tests to Utah at no cost to the state.

By the end of next week, the state will have sent 100,000 of these tests to colleges and universities. Many schools, on the other hand, purchase tests themselves to meet demand.

But officials are unsure how long Utah will continue to receive antigen testing from the federal government, as many other states are also experiencing surges and likely requesting supplies. State officials continue to work on plans to continue testing asymptomatic students and possibly anyone who would like a test, Dougherty said.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

New deaths

The deaths reported on Friday bring the state’s death toll to 701. They included six Salt Lake County residents: two men between 25 and 44 and two women between 65 and 84, all of whom were hospitalized when they died; and two men aged 65 to 84, one of whom was a long-term care resident and the other who was not hospitalized at his death.

Two Morgan County men also died – one of whom was over 85 and hospitalized when he died, and the other between 65 and 84 and not hospitalized. The deaths also included two women from Box Elder County – a long-term care resident between 45 and 64, and a woman over 85, who was not hospitalized.

A man from Weber County and a man from Washington County, both aged 65 to 84, also died while in hospital, along with a man from Davis County between 45 and 64. A Utah County woman between the ages of 45 and 64 has died without hospitalization.

New cases of COVID-19 reported on Friday by health district:

• Salt Lake County, 814
• Utah County, 492
• Davis County, 290
• Weber-Morgan, 165
• Southwestern Utah, 122
• Bear River, 107
• Central Utah, 47
• Tooele County, 42
• Southeastern Utah, 21
• TriCounty (Uinta basin), 19
• Summit County, 16
• Wasatch County, 13
• San Juan County, 2