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Utah has 23 more coronavirus deaths, cases up 2,333 Tuesday

The rate of new positive tests remains high at 27%

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Taylor Woodrow and Christy Danielson Prepare to test for Covid-19 at the Intermountain Healthcare Cottonwood InstaCare on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020.

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With 2,333 new coronavirus cases reported Tuesday, Utah’s rate of new diagnoses plateaued after a three-day lull in test results, typical in the early days of each week.

But with 23 new deaths reported, Tuesday marked the deadliest 30-day stretch in Utah, with 313 fatalities in the last month alone.

The percentage of tests coming back positive remained at a near-record-high 27%, which suggests a lot of infected Utahns aren’t being tested, health officials have said.

For the past week, the state has averaged about 3,100 new positive test results a day, the Utah Department of Health reported — slightly below Monday’s rate of 3,125, but well above last Tuesday’s rate of about 2,300.

Utah’s death toll from the coronavirus stood at 972 Tuesday, with 23 fatalities reported since Monday:

  • A Salt Lake County man, between 45 and 64.
  • Four Salt Lake County men, all between 65 and 84.
  • Two Salt Lake County women, both between 65 and 84.
  • A Salt Lake County man, older than 85.
  • Three Salt Lake County women, all older than 85.
  • A San Juan County woman, between 44 and 65.
  • A Sanpete County man, between 65 and 84.
  • A Sevier County man, older than 85.
  • Two Utah County men, both between 65 and 84.
  • A Utah County woman, between 65 and 84.
  • Two Utah County men, both older than 85.
  • A man and a woman in Washington County, each between the ages of 25 and 44.
  • A Weber County man, between 65 and 84.
  • A Weber County woman, older than 85.

    • Hospitalizations held steady Tuesday, with 579 Utah patients currently admitted, UDOH reported. On average, about 587 patients have been receiving treatment in Utah hospitals each day for the past week — a record-high average.

    In total, 9,003 Utahns have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, up more than 1,100 in the past two weeks.

    There were 220 coronavirus patients in Utah’s intensive care units as of Tuesday — a record high.

    There were 9,906 new test results reported Tuesday, below the weeklong average of about 13,400 new tests per day.

    Per-capita rates of new cases again were far higher in Sanpete and Wasatch counties than in the rest of the state. In Sanpete County, more than 1 in 53 residents had tested positive for the virus in the past two weeks — meaning their cases are considered “active.” That figure rises to more than 1 in 45 within the towns of the Sanpete Valley.

    In Wasatch County, more than 1 in 58 residents were diagnosed with active cases, with rates of more than 1 in 75 in Washington and Utah counties.