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With 436 new Utah COVID-19 cases on Monday, hospitalizations and deaths remain high

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People wearing masks walk around downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, June 26, 2020.

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There were 436 new coronavirus cases reported in Utah on Monday, with seven additional deaths and 207 patients currently hospitalized, according to the Utah Department of Health.

For the past seven days, the number of patients concurrently hospitalized has averaged more than 205 per day — the highest of any one-week period since the beginning of the pandemic, according to UDOH data. There were 19 new hospitalizations reported Monday, with 2,253 Utah coronavirus patients admitted to hospitals since March.

Daily numbers of new cases have been erratic for about a month, with daily increases ranging 357 cases to 852 cases within the past week alone. For the week ending Monday, health officials reported an average of 544 new cases per day — up slightly from Sunday’s seven-day average of 541.

Gov. Gary Herbert has set a goal of fewer than 500 new cases on average, as of Aug. 1 — a figure not reached for more than a month.

Rural Utah continues to post relatively high numbers of new cases, with Utah’s 10 “green,” or “new normal” counties reporting on average 11 to 13 new cases per 100,000 people each day — their largest increases yet. Wayne County reported its first COVID-19 case Monday.

The percentage of positive tests also rose slightly Monday, from 9.1% to 9.5%. That follows about two weeks’ decline from 10.3% in mid-June.

Utah’s death toll from the coronavirus stood at 281 on Monday, with seven new fatalities reported. They are:

  • A Salt Lake County man, between age 65 and 84, who died in a hospital.

  • A Salt Lake County man, age 45 to 64, who died in a hospital.

  • A Salt Lake County man, age 65 to 84, who lived in a long-term care facility.

  • A Salt Lake County woman, older than 85, who lived in a long-term care facility.

  • A San Juan County man, age 65 to 84, who lived in a long-term care facility.

  • A San Juan County man, age 45 to 64, who lived in a long-term care facility.

  • A Washington County man, age 45 to 64, who died in a hospital.

Of 38,409 Utahns who have tested positive for the coronavirus, 25,321 are considered “recovered” — that is, they have survived for at least three weeks after being diagnosed.