Utah reports 316 new COVID-19 cases, 23 newly hospitalized

Shelby Close, a certified medical assistant with University of Utah Health, administers a COVID-19 test at a testing facility in Park City on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. The testing facility is part of the David Eccles School of Business and University of Utah Health’s new Utah Health & Economic Recovery Outreach program. The program will test 10,000 Utahns across four counties. Citizens will receive two tests: PCR (swab test to detect presence of coronavirus) and serology (blood draw to detect antibodies). Antibodies to the coronavirus indicate probable past infection. The data gathered will inform decision-makers in the state as they work to help keep residents safe and get people back to work. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health on Thursday reported one of the largest daily increases of confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in Utah.

An additional 316 cases pushes the state’s total to 10,813, with more than half of them believed to have recovered. It is a 3% increase in cases across the state from Wednesday.

Twenty-three new patients have been hospitalized with the highly contagious illness, a 24% increase since Monday. Since mid-March, when the first cases of the novel coronavirus were reported, there have been 850 people hospitalized in Utah, the health department reports.

The state has tested more than 227,507 people and reports a 4.8% positivity rate resulting from those tests.

No new deaths resulting from COVID-19 were reported on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the state epidemiologist, Dr. Angela Dunn, said there has been a “sharp spike” in cases this week, which caused particular concern. She encouraged Utahns to continue social distancing and wearing a mask in public to help prevent further spread of COVID-19 in Utah.

The state health department reported a growing number of cases for which the origin is unknown or still under investigation. Still, the majority of cases, more than 60% in Utah, are contracted from a known contact or household member.

The latest breakdown of Utah cases, hospitalizations and deaths by health district:

• Salt Lake County, 5,756; 497 hospitalized; 78 deaths.
• Utah County, 2,088; 110 hospitalized; 17 deaths.
• Southwest Utah, 524; 46 hospitalized; 4 deaths.
• Davis County, 513; 48 hospitalized; 2 deaths.
• Summit County, 419; 38 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Bear River, 333; 19 hospitalized; 2 deaths.
• Weber-Morgan, 330; 35 hospitalized; 7 deaths.
• Wasatch County, 313; 14 hospitalized; 2 deaths.
• San Juan County, 312; 30 hospitalized; 5 deaths.
• Tooele County, 140; 9 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Central Utah, 39; 3 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Southeast Utah, 26; 0 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 20; 1 hospitalized; 0 deaths.

This story will be updated.

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