Utah coronavirus cases up 2,517 on Tuesday, with 11 new deaths

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The rate of new COVID-19 diagnoses and hospitalizations in Utah continued to rise to unprecedented levels on Tuesday, as the state reported 2,517 new cases, an outbreak at Utah State Prison has continued to worsen and the Utah National Guard has stepped up its assistance to the state’s response.

With 11 new deaths, Tuesday also marked the end of the virus’ deadliest 14 days since the start of the pandemic; more than 90 Utahns have died from COVID-19 in the past two weeks.

Over the past week, the state has averaged more than 2,500 new positive test results per day, continuing a string of new records, the Utah Department of Health reported – and the highest on Tuesday occurs despite the fact that there are usually lower numbers of cases on Monday. and Tuesdays, due to less testing and weekend delays.

The death toll in Utah from the coronavirus rose to 672 on Tuesday, with 11 deaths reported since Monday:

Hospitalizations were held on Tuesday, with 435 Utah patients admitted simultaneously, UDOH reported. On average, 411 patients have been treated in Utah hospitals every day over the past week – a number that has been rising steadily since early October.

A total of 6,284 Utahns have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, a record 122 patients from Monday. More than 600 Utahns have been hospitalized in the past week alone.

Over the past week, 21.9% of all tests have come back positive – a record rate which indicates that large numbers of those infected are not tested, state officials said. Statewide, Utah’s positive test rate has been above 5% since May 25, according to UDOH data.

There were nearly 13,000 new test results reported on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Utah National Guard occupied a COVID-19 testing station in the parking lot outside the UDOH offices in Salt Lake City, as part of the duties of some 300 Soldiers and Airmen deployed to assist the state with testing, contact tracing and other tasks, said Col. Tammy Manwaring, commander of Joint Guard Task Force 97.

The Guard’s mission, Manwaring said, is “to fill these gaps and improve the response. Health care workers do their main job. As it was a pandemic, improvement was needed, so we came to help. “

Some members of the Guard began helping UDOH in March, at the very onset of the pandemic, Manwaring said. The bulk of the Guard’s efforts began on May 11, she said.

The Guard employs 25 mobile test units that are popping up to perform COVID-19 testing for populations around Utah, Manwaring said. These units average about 1,750 tests per day, she said.

Soldiers and Airmen are also involved in contact tracing, running long-term care facilities, organizing medical supply warehouses, staffing state laboratories, and other missions. , Manwaring said.

Meanwhile, as temperatures drop, the University of Utah is moving most of its tests indoors. Instead of four sites by car, U. Health offers COVID-19 testing by appointment at its 12 community clinics.

The United States has been planning this transition since July, when staff were sweltering in the high summer temperatures. Now, as staff struggle to perform tests with frozen fingers, the low temperatures make each test take longer, said Nikki Gilmore, the nurse who oversees the tents.

With other respiratory illnesses on the rise during the winter months, moving indoors will also allow patients with more severe symptoms to be examined for other possible causes such as flu or strep infections, said Dr Richard Orlandi, deputy chief medical officer of ambulatory health for the U.

“As we move into cold and flu season, we need to assess patients,” Orlandi said. “Some patients have to go inside to have their lungs heard or to have a chest x-ray.”

The United States has switched to saliva testing for most patients, which is less “aerosol generating” than swab tests patients had previously received, Orlandi said; this means it has become safer to test indoors. COVID-19 tests will be performed in areas separate from other patients to prevent the virus from spreading inside clinics.

The Rice-Eccles Stadium test booth will continue to operate, primarily for testing people who work on campus. To schedule a test, visit the University of Utah Health website or call 801-587-0712.

Two-week case counts hit record highs in Box Elder, Cache, Sanpete, Sevier, Davis, Salt Lake, Carbon, Emery, Washington, Iron, Beaver, Garfield, Summit, Tooele, Duchesne, Uintah, Utah on Tuesday , Wasatch. and Weber counties.

Utah County again reported the highest number of new cases per capita in the state over the past week.

But of the 98 “small areas” of Utah, used by state officials to track local health data, the worst infection rates for the week were reported in Draper, where a coronavirus outbreak in Utah State Prison continued to spread.

As of Tuesday, nearly 800 people incarcerated at Draper Prison had tested positive for the virus, with 490 of those cases still considered active cases. Authorities say 303 detainees are considered “recovered”.

the Numbers of cases at Utah State Prison have exploded since an initial outbreak began in October, likely linked to a doctor who treated several inmates who later tested positive. While the initial outbreak was confined to one area of ​​Draper Institution, the virus has now spread to almost every other housing unit in the prison. There have also been 29 cases reported at Gunnison Prison.

Utah prison officials announced last week that an 82-year-old inmate who tested positive for the virus had died in his cell. He is the first person incarcerated in Utah to die after testing positive for the virus, but prison officials have said he has other health issues and a medical examiner will determine if he died in cause of the coronavirus or something else.