Seven more Utahs of COVID-19 died.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Cassidy Murphy tests for Covid-19 at the Intermvanthan Healthcare Cottonwood Instacer on Friday, December 11, 2020.
Intensive care units remain almost perfect in Utah after a rough week with overcrowded capacity.
The state health department reports that 89.6% of all ICU beds are used, compared to 96 96 .. on Sunday. ICU beds for key referral centers, which care for most coronavirus patients, occupied .5 occupied..5% by Monday, compared to 101.7% the day before.
Health workers are warning Utahns about the dangers of a full ICU, which is dangerously close to being understaffed.
“The addition of this ICU was predictable,” said Dr. Infectious Disease Physician of Intermount Healthcare. Eddie Steinage said at a conference Monday. “First comes the case, then the hospitalization, then the ICU admission.”
“We are in constant contact with Utah’s hospital network,” said Anna Lehnard, the governor’s director of communications. “While they continue to experience high levels of stress due to COVID-19 hospitalization, they have not asked the governor for emergency standards of care. We encourage Utahns to keep social distance and wear masks at any time when they are around other people outside their nearest home. “
Hospitals are working to meet the needs of the ICU by opening new beds and new units, Steinzeme said, but patients admitted to the ICU tend to stay longer than those admitted normally to other conditions.
“It comes down to the situation that we are rapidly adding more and more people to the ICU and they will not be discharged from the ICU at the same pace,” he said.
The state health department reported seven new deaths Monday, including the following:
-
A man from Iron County, aged 45-64
-
A woman in Salt Lake County between the ages of 65-84
-
One person from Tulle County, over 85 years old
-
A man between the ages of 65-84 from Mutah County
-
A man from Washatch County, aged 45-64
-
And two Washington Washington County women, one between 45-64 and the other between 65-84
The month of December has seen only one day with zero COVID-19 related deaths in Utah.
The number of new cases reported on Monday is 1,968, down from 2,000 for the first time in December.
A total of 1,580,843 Utahns were tested for the coronavirus, including 5,621 news tests on Monday, the lowest for months.
The seven-day rolling average for tests is 24.07% and the state is seeing a weekly rolling average of 2,598 positive tests per day. It is an indication of the spread of the virus out of control in the test positivity rate state.
“We cannot tolerate a steady increase in cases and subsequent hospitalizations,” Steinzej said. “We need to make sure that we control it in terms of public health until the vaccine becomes widely available in the coming months.”
The physician commended the residents of Utah for paying close attention to the underlying guidelines on physics. Health providers expect a surge in post-holiday cases, but have seen a lower-than-expected increase.
Greg Bell, with the Utah Hospital Hospital Association, said the state has been less infected than officials feared for three reasons: Herbert’s order of social distance, the need for his statewide mask, and because “Utah citizens responded to the governor’s urgent advice and medical advice.”
“But if we remove the gas pedal a little bit, we can help,” Belle said.
Steinheim called on the community to take similar precautions now and during the holidays, including Christmas and Hanukkah.
“Don’t go out of your house to enjoy those holidays.”
