The Southwest Utah Public Health Department reported 336 new COVID-19 cases in the South West region on Friday with 53 of these being located in Iron County.
The new totals bring Iron county to 2,082 confirmed cases since the pandemic began with 757 of the confirmed cases reported as currently active.
At the close of the first full week of primarily remote instruction, Southern Utah University saw 43 new self-reported cases from on-campus students and faculty reported over the course of Nov. 26-Dec. 3.
Statewide, COVID-19 cases increased by a total of 3,005 since Thursday with Utah Department of Health officials reporting eight new deaths.
Six of the new death reports come from Salt Lake County; a man age 45-64, a man age 65-84, two women age 65-84 and a man and a woman older than 85.
Davis and Utah counties each reported one new death. The deceased were reported as a Davis County man older than 85 and a Utah County man age 45-64 were.
The state has averaged 2,728 new cases a day for the week for a positivity rate of 25.2%. This translates to more than one-in-four tests coming back with a positive result.
Utah hospitals currently house 587 COVID-19 patients with a reported 203 of these being admitted to Intensive Care Units. State data shows that ICU bed usage across the state is about 86% full while 58% of non-ICU beds are also full.
Of the 1,470,973 total tests administered in Utah since the onset of the pandemic, 14.4% have come back with a positive result. An estimated 61,925 confirmed cases are considered active across the state, according to UDOH.
Story by: Mikyla Bagley
outdoors@suunews.net
Photo by: Chris Diamond
