Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every weekday morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
Deaths in Utah due to the coronavirus have surged again, with 19 new fatalities reported since Monday along with a record-high number of hospitalizations.
But with 2,510 new coronavirus cases reported, the state’s rate of new diagnoses continued to drop slightly. The Utah Department of Health on Tuesday reported a seven-day average of 2,292 new positive test results per day — the lowest rate since Nov. 6.
With 19 deaths, Tuesday marked the virus’s deadliest two-week stretch since the pandemic began. UDOH reported the deaths of 12 men and seven women:
Six men from Utah County, three older than 85; two ages 65 to 84, and one age 25 to 44.
Two Utah County women, one age 65 to 84 and the other over 85.
Two Salt Lake County men, one age 65 to 84 and the other 45 to 64.
Three Salt Lake County women, two who were older than 85 and one age 65 to 84.
A Cache County man older than 85.
A Box Elder County man, age 45 to 64.
Two Washington County men, one age 65 to 84 and the other older than 85.
Two Weber County women, one age 45 to 64 and the other age 65 to 84.
Hospitalizations continued to rise Tuesday, with 575 Utah patients concurrently admitted — a record high. In total, 8,279 patients have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, with a record single-day increase of 144 patients since Monday.
For the past week, 22.1% of all tests have come back positive — a rate that indicates a large number of infected people are not being tested, state officials have said. There were 9,146 new test results reported Tuesday, slightly below the weeklong average of 10,715 new tests per day.
Infection rates were the highest by far in Wasatch and Sanpete counties, followed by Cache, Utah and Morgan counties. In all five, at least 1 in every 75 people had tested positive for the virus in the past two weeks — meaning their cases are considered “active.”
For the past week, Wasatch County’s case rates have been particularly high, nearly 70 percent higher than the statewide average. While most of the rest of the state saw sharp declines in new cases starting around Nov. 20, Wasatch County cases declined only slightly and have been surging again in the past two days.
Meanwhile, the northern part of Orem had the highest infection rate of any one community, with active cases diagnosed in 1 in every 50 residents.
Follow @erinalberty