Utah reports 376 new cases but no coronavirus deaths Saturday

University of Utah Health physician assistant Christine Tang stands in front of fans to keep cool as she waits for the next car to arrive at a U. Wellness Bus COVID-19 test event at the Sorenson Multicultural Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah health officials reported 376 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, but no new deaths.

Also Saturday, Gov. Gary Herbert extended his executive order requiring face masks be worn in state facilities until Aug. 20. The governor did not issue a statewide mask mandate after the state’s rolling 7-day average for positive tests fell below 500 cases last week, but he has set a new goal of dropping below 400 cases by Sept. 1.

Saturday’s case numbers put the state’s rolling 7-day average for positive tests for COVID-19 at 426 a day, and the rolling 7-day average for the percentage of positive laboratory tests at 9.3%. The numbers are down since Friday, when 460 new confirmed cases and five additional deaths were reported, for a total 335 deaths in the state.

There was a 7,255 increase in the number of people tested, bringing the total number tested in Utah to 566,355. Currently, 195 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 and 2,604 have been hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak.

State Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, tweeted Saturday she has tested positive for COVID-19. Henderson, the running mate of the GOP candidate for governor in the November election, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, announced Friday she was experiencing symptoms and two family members had already tested positive for the virus.

“No big surprise, my COVID test came back positive,” Henderson said in a tweet. “Stay safe out there, everyone. Wear your masks to protect others—by the time you have symptoms you’ve already been contagious for a couple of days and could have unknowingly infected other people.”

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