Utah coronavirus cases up 4,000 on Wednesday

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With 4,004 new coronavirus cases reported on Wednesday, the rate of new diagnoses in Utah was on the rise again, after a brief drop around the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Utah Department of Health reported a seven-day average of 2,611 new positive test results per day, Wednesday’s increase – the third largest jump in a day to date – pushing the average up after a few days of declining numbers.

The state’s death toll from the coronavirus stood at 906, with one previous death removed from the list and 17 new deaths reported since Tuesday:

Hospitalizations were held on Wednesday, with 571 Utah patients admitted simultaneously, UDOH reported.

A total of 8,423 patients have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, which is the record increase of 144 in one day on Tuesday.

For those who are sick but not hospitalized, Intermountain Healthcare announced on Wednesday it is joining a study to determine whether blood thinners could help prevent patients from deteriorating.

“Doctors know that blood clots are a complication of COVID-19 infection,” said Dr. Joseph Bledsoe, director of research in the emergency department at Intermountain.

Tiny blood clots that form in the brain, heart, lungs, and legs are “considered a cause of clinical deterioration or even death” in coronavirus patients, Bledsoe said. Blood thinners like aspirin have been helpful in other conditions that cause blood clots, Bledsoe said.

But the risk of blood clots appears to be especially high in coronavirus patients, and there hasn’t been enough research for doctors to prescribe anticoagulants for patients who aren’t sick enough to get to the hospital. .

“Much of the research around COVID-19 focuses on the sickest of the sick,” said Dr. Sarah Majercik, trauma surgeon at Intermountain Healthcare and principal investigator of the Utah study. “This study is unique because it focuses on patients who have never been admitted to hospital. The information we get can help doctors prevent patients from entering the hospital in the future. It may even prevent some of the long-term complications we see with COVID-19. “

For the study, Intermountain researchers are looking for patients aged 40 to 80 who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days and are showing symptoms – but who are not sick enough to need hospital care. Patients will take aspirin, apixaban, or a placebo for 45 days, but they will not know what type of pill they are receiving.

Over the past week, 22.6% of all tests have come back positive – a rising rate, and one that indicates that large numbers of those infected are not being tested, state officials said.

There were 9,434 new test results reported on Wednesday, slightly below the weeklong average of around 10,000 new tests per day.

Infection rates were by far the highest in Wasatch County, followed by Sanpete, Utah, Cache and Washington counties. In those five counties, at least 1 in 75 people had tested positive for the virus in the past two weeks, meaning their cases are considered “active.”

Meanwhile, the northern part of Orem had the highest infection rate of any community, with active cases diagnosed in 1 in 50 residents.