Utah again smashes daily record for new COVID-19 cases with 1,411 confirmed

Heather Wetch, Caleb Stepaniak and Marina Hays conduct tests as the University of Utah’s Wellness Bus conducts COVID-19 testing at West Valley City’s Centennial Park on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah again smashed its record for new daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, with 1,411 confirmed tests, according to state health officials.

The new cases were reported as 10,242 people received tests, with a 13.8% positive rate, the Utah Department of Health said. The rolling seven-day average for new cases is 960 per day, and the average positive tests is 14%.

“Today, we see yet another record-setting day for COVID-19 in our state. For the first time, we’ve hit more than 10,000 tests reported in a 24-hour period. Testing is a critical component of our response and helps us understand the spread of the virus in our communities,” officials with the health department said in a statement.

Anyone with one or more symptoms of the coronavirus — fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches and pains, or a decrease in the sense of taste or smell — is encouraged to get tested at one of the state’s 70 testing locations, officials said.

The previous record day for new cases occurred on Thursday, when just under 1,200 cases were confirmed.

“Unfortunately, today we also see a record number of new cases being reported, which has primarily been driven by an increase of cases among young people. We expect these increases will also spill over to other age groups, and the data indicates this is starting to happen,” according to the statement.

Currently, 184 patients are hospitalized with the disease, four fewer than on Thursday.

Beginning Monday, University of Utah Health will begin testing for COVID-19 by appointment only due to increasing demand and long lines.

“As our testing volumes have increased tremendously in the last week or two, it has become clear that we need to make a change,” Dr. Richard Orlandi said. “We’ve been saddened to see people waiting in line for one, two, maybe more hours.”

Four more deaths were also reported: a Weber County man and Iron County woman, both between 65-84 and hospitalized when they died; and a Salt Lake County woman older than 85 and Washington County man between 65-84, both of whom were long-term care residents.

This story will be updated throughout the day.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2RZpdMp