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With 242 new cases of coronavirus reported on Monday, the rate of new diagnoses from Utah continued to fall, remaining below the governor’s goal of less than 400 cases per day.
Over the past seven days, Utah has averaged 354 new positive test results per day, the Utah Department of Health reported on Monday. Gov. Gary Herbert had said he wanted the state to come under 400 new cases a day by September 1 – and after about three weeks of increasing numbers, it would take a sharp rise in infections to exceed that goal.
Statewide, the rate of Utah positive testing since May 25 has been above 5%, according to UDOH data.
There were 3,268 new test results reported on Monday, below the weekly average of 3,857 new tests per day. Testing of demand has dropped since late July, officials and hospital administrators have said; as of mid-July, the state reported more than 7,000 new test results per day, on average.
Hospitalizations were down on Monday, with 139 Utah patients admitted at the same time, UDOH reported – the lowest number since mid-June. On average, 173 patients received treatment every day in Utah hospitals over the past week – continuing with a decline that began in the middle of last week, and well below the peak average of 211 patients who started a little over two weeks ago hospital are.
A total of 2,782 patients were admitted to Utah Hospital for COVID-19, up 11 from Sunday.
Utah’s death toll from coronavirus rose to 364 on Monday, with two deaths reported since Sunday:
- A Salt Lake County woman, age 65 to 84, who died in a hospital.
- A Utah County man, over 85, Utah County resident, who died in a hospital.
One previous death was removed from the list for further investigation, UDOH said.
Of 46,894 Utahns who tested positive for COVID-19, 38,132 were considered “recovered” – that is, they survived at least three weeks after diagnosis.
