Utah ties previous daily record with another 676 new COVID-19 cases Saturday

Medical Reserves Corps Mobile Testing Team administrator Aaron Dayne Smith tests Bess Hayes for COVID-19 outside of Glendale Middle School in Salt Lake City on Monday, June 22, 2020. Utah again confirmed a high number of new cases on Saturday July 4, tying with the state’s previous daily record at 676. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah again confirmed a high number of new cases on Saturday, tying with the state’s previous daily record.

The Beehive State reported 676 positive tests. Testing numbers have also risen exponentially — for the second day in a row, more than 10,000 people received tests, according to the Utah Department of Health. That compares to the previous average daily testing numbers, which ranged between 3,000 to 5,000 for the past several weeks.

Utah’s previous record day for new COVID-19 cases occurred on June 26, when 676 new positive tests were also reported.

Now 24,524 out of 366,716 have tested positive for the novel coronavirus for a positive rate of 6.7%.

And public health officials have expressed concern that the 4th of July could further contribute to the state’s spike in cases, as the last holiday weekend did.

“We had a #COVID19 surge after Memorial Day. Our hospitals can’t handle another one. We are spending the holiday weekend apart from others, outside in the fresh air, and wearing masks IF we have to go anywhere else. Please do the same,” Dr. Angela Dunn, state epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health, tweeted on Thursday.

No new deaths were reported, leaving the state’s toll at 181.

Thirty-six new patients needed hospital treatment for the coronavirus since Friday. The total hospitalizations with the disease rose slightly from 186 on Friday to 193 on Saturday.

Eighty-eight COVID-19 patients are in intensive care units, which are running at 68.4% capacity. Nonintensive care units are 51.5% full, according to state health department data. Of Utah’s 1,299 ventilators, 215 are in use by coronavirus patients and others.

Just over 13,800 residents are now considered recovered from COVID-19 after passing the three-week point since their diagnoses.

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

• Salt Lake County, 12,343; 847 hospitalized; 112 deaths.
• Utah County, 4,475; 233 hospitalized; 22 deaths.
• Southwest Utah, 1,660; 105 hospitalized; 12 deaths.
• Bear River (Box Elder, Cache, Rich), 1,606; 58 hospitalized; 3 deaths.
• Davis County, 1,379; 90 hospitalized; 5 deaths.
• Weber-Morgan, 1,172; 80 hospitalized; 14 deaths.
• Summit County, 515; 47 hospitalized; 1 deaths.
• Wasatch County, 419; 20 hospitalized; 3 deaths.
• San Juan County, 413; 59 hospitalized; 9 deaths.
• Tooele County, 265; 12 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Central Utah, 201; 11 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 55; 3 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Southeast Utah, 40; 0 hospitalized; 0 deaths.

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