Utah meets governor’s goal by keeping new COVID-19 cases average below 400

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 met Gov. Gary Herbert’s goal of maintaining a rolling average of below 400 daily new COVID-19 cases by Sept. 1 as Tuesday brought just 296 additional coronavirus cases and two more deaths, according to the Utah Department of Health.

The new cases were confirmed out of 4,666 tests, with a 6.3% positive rate.

The rolling seven-day average for new cases is 374 per day, and the average positive test rate is 9%.

The state has seen 52,403 confirmed COVID-19 cases out of 664,521 people tested in Utah since the pandemic began, an overall positive rate of 7.8%.

Currently, 126 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Utah, one more than on Monday. Just over 3,100 people have needed hospitalization for the disease in the state since the pandemic began.

In Utah, 44,338 confirmed cases are considered recovered after surviving the three-week point since their diagnoses, meaning 8,065 infections are active.

Death rate

The two deaths reported Tuesday bring the state’s toll to 409. They were a Utah County man between ages 45-64, who was hospitalized when he died; and a Salt Lake County man older than 85, who was not hospitalized when he died.

The death rate of confirmed cases in Utah now stands at 0.78%. Of those who died with the disease in the state, 78% had at least one preexisting condition and 92.4% were considered at high risk.

That largely aligns with new data released recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said nationally that for just 6% of deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned on death certificates. For the rest, there were on average 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death, according to the CDC.

In Utah, state health officials have said those counted as COVID-19 deaths would not have died when they did if not for the infection.

This story will be updated.

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