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 morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
As a statewide test shortage continues to obscure true case counts, Utah reported 10,272 new COVID-19 diagnoses Monday, as well a near-record number of patients hospitalized with the virus.
Since Friday, daily diagnoses have reached their lowest point in recent weeks, but it’s not clear whether that’s due to lower transmission levels or Utahns following state officials’ recommendation not to get tested after an influx of patients overwhelmed the state’s testing sites in mid-January.
The state tally reported Monday consisted of 4,801 new cases confirmed Friday, 3,208 new cases confirmed Saturday and 2,324 new cases confirmed Sunday, according to the Utah Department of Health.
There were 813 Utahns hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday, down from Friday’s 843 but far higher than the record before January: 606, in December 2020. State officials last week announced that a data error had caused inaccuracies in hospital counts for months, significantly undercounting them in recent weeks. COVID-19 hospitalizations are lowest, on average, on Mondays and Tuesdays, UDOH data shows.
There were 180 COVID patients in intensive care units as of Friday. ICUs in the state’s larger, “referral” hospitals were at 86% capacity — above the 85% threshold that hospital administrators have said is necessary to leave room for unpredictable staffing levels, new patients and availability of specialized equipment and personnel. ICUs in Utah’s referral hospitals have remained over capacity continuously since late August, nearly twice as long as during the previous fall and winter.
Statewide, 83.1% of all ICU beds were filled.
The state on Monday also confirmed 11 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 4,118.
The state has been undercounting cases as it has tried to ration COVID-19 tests. Health officials have urged Utahns not to get tested unless they have health risks or are likely to be in close contact with someone who does, and testing volumes have dropped since since mid-January, when testing sites were overrun with patients.
That recommendation likely has kept many cases from being diagnosed, hiding the state’s true infection levels.
The rate of tests with positive results remains extremely high at 28.2% for the past week — another indicator that cases are being undercounted. Health experts have said a “percent positivity” of 3% to 5% would indicate that most infections are being diagnosed and the virus is under control.
So, although diagnoses dropped this weekend to close to the pre-January peak of about 4,000 — it’s not clear whether that’s because the virus isn’t infecting as many people, or whether people who are infected simply aren’t getting tested.
[Read more: Utah officials still recommend not to get tested for COVID. Here’s why.]
Find where to get vaccinated at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution. Find where to get tested at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations.
Breakdown of updated figures
Vaccine doses administered during the weekend/total doses administered • 12,711 / 4,801,709.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,946,731 — 59.9% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 3,043 during the weekend.
Cases reported during the weekend • 10,272.
Vaccination status • Health officials do not immediately have or release the vaccination status of individuals who test positive, who are hospitalized, or who die. They do calculate the overall risk ratios of these outcomes depending on vaccination status, which is listed below.
Tests reported during the weekend • A total of 57,319 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past day • 11. Five occurred before Jan. 1, state health officials said.
Salt Lake County reported five deaths: a woman age 25-44; two men ages 45-64; and two men, ages 65-84.
Washington County confirmed three COVID-19 deaths: a man and a woman ages 45-64 and a man age 65-84.
A Sevier County man age 45-64, a Davis County woman age 65-84, and a Utah County man age 65-84 also were confirmed to have died from COVID-19.
Utahns currently hospitalized with COVID-19 • 813. That is 41 more than the 854 that UDOH reported Friday. Of those currently hospitalized, 180 are in intensive care — four fewer than reported on Friday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 43.6% Monday. That is lower than the seven-day average of 44.5%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Thursday’s rate was 17.9%, lower than the seven-day average of 28.2%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Risk ratios • In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 10.5 times as likely to die of COVID-19 as vaccinated people were, according to a Utah Department of Health analysis. The unvaccinated also were 4.7 times as likely to be hospitalized, and 2.3 times as likely to test positive for the coronavirus.
Totals to date • 885,523 cases; 4,118 deaths; 31,284 hospitalizations; 8,893,751 tests administered.
Follow @erinalberty