Utah reports another 1K+ day of new COVID-19 cases
Sep 27, 2020, 2:55 PM | Updated: 3:47 pm
FILE: Utah health officials are unclear about what caused two cases of a severe liver illness in children. Photo: KSL TV.
SALT LAKE CITY — Since last Thursday, the number of new cases of COVID-19 reported each day by the Utah Department of Health has been higher than 1,000. On Sunday, officials reported 1,068 new cases of the virus.
The highest number of new COVID-19 cases in Utah, to date, was reported on Thursday, when state officials reported 1,198 new cases
More deaths reported in Utah due to COVID-19
Also on Sunday, Utah health officials reported five additional deaths. Of these, two were residents of Salt Lake County. One was a male between the ages of 25-44 who was hospitalized at the time of his death. The other death in Salt Lake County was that of a male between the ages of 45-64, also hospitalized at the time of his death.
Three deaths occurred in Utah County. Two were men between the ages of 65-84 who were hospitalized at the time of their deaths. The third was a female, older than age 85, who died in a long-term care facility.
Since the beginning of the global pandemic, 453 Utahns have died from COVID-19.
Testing for COVID-19
To date in Utah, 811,249 people have been tested for COVID-19, which represents an increase of 6,170 over Saturday’s reported numbers.
Last week, Intermountain Healthcare announced they would begin offering a new, saliva-based, COVID-19 test. This new test will be offered at Intermountain’s drive-thru testing sites in Utah.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has focused on decreasing the rolling 7-day average of positive tests, but right now that number is inching higher. On Sunday, the Utah Department of Health reported the rolling 7-day average for positive tests is 974 per day, with a rolling 7-day average of 13.9% for the percentage of positive laboratory tests.
Update on face coverings and risk levels
There are currently four counties in Utah where face coverings are required when in public places and when social distancing is not possible. They are Summit, Salt Lake, Utah, and Grand counties.
Most counties in Utah are either in Yellow (Low Level of Restriction) or Green (Minimal Level of Restriction) categories of COVID-19 risk, as assigned by Utah state officials. But two cities, Provo and Orem, have been raised to Orange (Moderate Level of Restriction).
