Utah health officials reported 2,987 new positive COVID-19 cases along with a tremendous rise in single-day deaths of 17 reported on Friday; two of which are attributable to the Southwest Utah Public Health Department region.
200 new cases of COVID-19 cases were reported in the SWUPHD in the region for a total of 7,219. Of these, there were a reported 28 new cases in Iron County, bringing the county total to 1,056 on Friday.
Southern Utah University continues to see a growing number of positive cases with 24 newly reported to campus officials during the week of Oct. 29-Nov. 4. These included 19 on-campus students and faculty, and five off-campus cases.
The SWUPHD reported the two new deaths to be a man and woman from Washington County both between the age of 65-84.
Five of the other deaths were attributed to Salt Lake County; one woman between the ages of 45-64, two women between the ages of 65-84, one man between the ages of 25-44 and one man between the ages of 65-84.
Another five were reportedly from Utah County; four men between the ages of 65-84 and one woman older than 85.
Davis County reported the loss of one man and one woman both between the ages of 65-84.
Tooele, Juab and Weber counties each reported one new death. Tooele County reported one man between the ages of 45-64, Juab County reported one woman between the ages of 65-84 and Weber reported one man older than 85.
Besides an alarming new death toll, the state is also experiencing a high number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations with 395 current cases. This includes 167 cases in the intensive care unit contributing to a total 76% usage of statewide ICU beds.
Utah’s Friday cases bring the state’s seven day rolling average for new cases over the threshold of 2,000.
The total case count for Utah since the onset of the pandemic is a reported 127,279 out of a total 1,136,826 tests administered. This results in a positive test percentage of 11.2%.
Within the past week, 19.7% of all tests in Utah have come back with a positive result.
Story by: Mikyla Bagley
outdoors@suunews.net
Photo by: Mitch Quartz
