Another daily record smashed with 722 new COVID-19 cases in Utah, 7 deaths

Infection control nurse Eve Kovacs administers a COVID-19 test to Catherine Kiene at a testing station at Oquirrh Park in Kearns on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. | Yukai Peng, Deseret News

Death toll tops 200 in Utah; state opens new testing tent in hard-hit Kearns area

KEARNS — Health officials on Wednesday opened yet another testing facility in Utah — this time aiming at a more diverse and harder hit portion of the population in west Salt Lake County.

“The numbers are rising out here,” said Laurie Stringham, chairwoman at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center, 5624 S. Cougar Lane, where the new testing center is located. “We’ve really seen a spike.”

She said the diversely populated area is replete with people who work jobs considered “essential” during the pandemic, including health care workers, firefighters and police officers, grocery store workers and more, who haven’t been able to shelter in place with the rest of the state. Many residents, Stringham said, live in two- or three-income homes and must go to these essential jobs to make ends meet.

Certain populations, too, are found to be more affected by the novel coronavirus, whether because of cultural customs or something else, but the new testing site is situated right in the middle of what the Utah Department of Health has identified as a hotbed for transmission.

A record 722 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Utah on Wednesday, marking a new daily high. And nearly 25% of the 2,911 tests conducted throughout Utah were positive, according to the health department.

More than 385,760 people in Utah have been tested and 26,755 of those have been positive so far.

The health department also reported that another 25 people were hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 in Utah, and another seven people have died.

Three of those deaths were Utah County residents, including two men between the ages of 45 and 64, one who was hospitalized at the time of his death and one who was not; and a woman between the ages of 65 and 84 who was living at a long-term care facility.

Two residents at Salt Lake County long-term care facilities, a man between age 65 and 84 and a woman older than 85, also reportedly died with COVID-19.

The other two deaths include a man between age 65 and 84 who was living in a long-term care facility in Washington County, and another man, between the ages of 45 and 64 who was hospitalized in San Juan County at the time of his death.

This brings Utah’s coronavirus death toll to 201 since the pandemic began.

The health department counts 15,178 of Utah’s cases as recovered, as more than three weeks has passed since the diagnoses.

The West Valley City, Kearns and Taylorsville areas have exhibited higher numbers of COVID-19 infection, resulting in some communities maintaining tighter restrictions. Masks are required in public throughout Salt Lake County until at least Aug. 20, according to an order issued in late June.

“We want to provide access to testing to people who are the most susceptible,” said Josh Walker, COO at Nomi Health, the lead contractor for the TestUtah program, which is operating the testing site.

He said TestUtah sites typically have little to no wait time, testing is quick and results come back within 24 to 36 hours in Utah.

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

• Salt Lake County, 13,343; 908 hospitalized; 122 deaths.
• Utah County, 4,894; 248 hospitalized; 27 deaths.
• Southwest Utah, 1,840; 114 hospitalized; 14 deaths.
• Bear River (Box Elder, Cache, Rich), 1,689; 62 hospitalized; 3 deaths.
• Davis County, 1,575; 98 hospitalized; 6 deaths.
• Weber-Morgan, 1,368; 92 hospitalized; 14 deaths.
• Summit County, 543; 47 hospitalized; 1 death.
• Wasatch County, 436; 20 hospitalized; 4 deaths.
• San Juan County, 425; 60 hospitalized; 10 deaths.
• Tooele County, 304; 12 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Central Utah, 234; 13 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 59; 4 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Southeast Utah, 45; 0 hospitalized; 0 deaths.

This story will be updated.

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