2,333 new coronavirus cases were reported Tuesday by the Utah Department of Health, a typical plateau in Utah’s rate of new diagnoses after a three-day lull in test results in the early days of each week. 214 of those were reported in the jurisdiction of the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, 48 being in Iron County.
Despite the slightly lower number of cases for the state, 23 new deaths were reported. 313 fatalities were recorded in the last month alone, marking the deadliest 30-day stretch since the pandemic began as of Tuesday, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Two of those deaths were hospitalized Washington County residents, a male and female, both between the ages of 25-55. The other 21 occured in counties across the state.
In the SWUPHD region, 9,637 have recovered from the virus and there are 4,401 current active cases.
An average of 3,100 new positive test results a day for the past week was reported by UDOH — slightly below Monday’s rate of 3,125, but above last Tuesday’s rate of about 2,300.
Hospitalizations held steady Tuesday, with 579 Utah patients currently admitted, UDOH reported. About 587 patients on average have been receiving treatment in Utah hospitals each day for the past week — a record-high average.
More than 1,100 Utahns have been hospitalized in the past two weeks, adding to the 9,003 that have been hospitalized since the pandemic began. In addition there were 220 coronavirus patients in Utah’s intensive care units as of Tuesday — another record high.
There were 9,906 new test results reported Tuesday, below the weeklong average of about 13,400 new tests per day.
The percentage of tests coming back positive remained at a near record-high of 27%, which health officials say suggests a lot of infected Utahns aren’t being tested, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Story By: Larissa Beatty
accent@suunews.net
