Utahns challenged to further decrease daily average of COVID-19 cases

University of Utah Health medical assistant Scott Anderson wears a FlexiFreeze cooling vest as he tests for COVID-19 in Farmington on Friday, July 31, 2020. U of U Health are using cooling methods at its testing stations to keep employees comfortable during the extreme heat. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

587 new cases reported Thursday, 3 more deaths

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns are helping to reduce the number of daily reported cases of COVID-19.

“We have something to celebrate,” Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday, congratulating the citizens of Utah for helping to reduce the seven-day rolling average number of confirmed cases to below 500.

He had asked for it to happen by Aug. 1 and it did.

On Thursday, Herbert asked Utahns to further help reduce the daily average to below 400 cases by Sept. 1.

“If we all work together, we can do this,” the governor said during his weekly COVID-19 briefing. “We need to do this.”

The Utah Department of Health on Thursday announced an increase of 587 cases from Wednesday. The total number of people who have been infected in Utah is now 42,915.

Another three deaths were also reported, including a woman between the ages of 45 and 64 from Davis County who was a resident of a long-term care facility when she died; a Salt Lake County man, between 45 and 64, who was hospitalized at the time of his death; and a Utah County man, older than 85, who was also a long-term care facility resident.

The total number of lives lost in Utah to the pandemic virus to date is 330.

For more information, visit coronavirus.utah.gov.

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

• Salt Lake County, 20,082; 1,315 hospitalized; 186 deaths.
• Utah County, 8,434; 388 hospitalized; 37 deaths.
• Southwest Utah, 3,133; 177 hospitalized; 25 deaths.
• Davis County, 3,129; 177 hospitalized; 19 deaths.
• Weber-Morgan, 2,740; 169 hospitalized; 25 deaths.
• Bear River (Box Elder, Cache, Rich), 2,246; 104 hospitalized; 6 deaths.
• Summit County, 706; 53 hospitalized; 1 death.
• San Juan County, 645; 83 hospitalized; 25 deaths.
• Tooele County, 573; 28 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Wasatch County, 545; 20 hospitalized; 4 deaths.
• Central Utah, 405; 25 hospitalized; 2 deaths.
• TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 173; 10 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
• Southeast Utah, 104; 5 hospitalized; 0 deaths.

This story will be updated.

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