Utah coronavirus cases up 3,005 on Friday, with 8 more deaths reported

With 3,005 new cases of coronavirus reported on Friday, the rate of new diagnoses in Utah continued to rise – and with more than one in four tests now coming back positive, it appears many people infected have not been diagnosed.

Over the past week, the state recorded an average of 2,728 new positive test results per day, the Utah Department of Health reported. That’s below the high of over 3,300, reached Nov. 22, but continues an increase that started days ago after a lull around the Thanksgiving holiday.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Utah stood at 925 on Friday, with eight deaths reported since Thursday. About 300 Utahns have died from the coronavirus in the past month.

Hospitalizations continued on Friday, with 587 patients from Utah admitted simultaneously, UDOH reported. On average, 575 coronavirus patients have been treated in Utah hospitals every day over the past week – a record.

A total of 8,652 Utahns have been hospitalized for COVID-19, more than 700 just last week.

Over the past week, 25.2% of all tests have come back positive – a record rate which indicates that large numbers of those infected are not tested, state officials said. These people can spread the virus without knowing it.

As of Friday, 16,129 new test results were reported, well above the weeklong average of about 11,000 new tests per day.