COVID-19 transmission still rampant throughout Utah as 10 more deaths reported

Chase Schumaker, left, a Salt Lake County mobile tester, finishes administering a COVID-19 test at the county’s testing site in the Maverik Center parking lot in West Valley City on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

1,575 new cases announced on Wednesday

SALT LAKE CITY — More than a million people in Utah have been tested for COVID-19, a step that health officials have said is essential in tracking the spread of disease.

The state has seen a slight downward trend in the past few days, but with a nearly 18% positivity rate, there could be many more cases of the novel coronavirus floating around the community unaccounted for.

On Wednesday, the Utah Department of Health reported 1,575 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total number of infections to 108,803.

The rolling seven-day average number of daily positive tests is 1,549 per day, 42 higher than Tuesday’s reported average, but lower than a week ago. The rolling seven-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests is 17.9%. It was 17.4% on Tuesday, according to the health department.

There have been 588 deaths caused by COVID-19 in Utah, including another 10 deaths reported on Wednesday.

Those deaths include a Salt Lake County woman older than 85; another Salt Lake County woman between the ages of 65 and 84; and a Utah County woman between the ages of 65 and 84, all of whom were residents at long-term health care facilities when they died. Among people hospitalized when they died with COVID-19 are a Salt Lake County woman between the ages of 45 and 64; a Salt Lake County man between the ages of 65 and 84; two Weber County women, both between the ages of 65 and 84, and, a Weber County man between the ages of 65 and 84.

It is unknown whether another two deaths occurred at Utah hospitals, including a Salt Lake County woman and a Millard County man, both between the ages of 65 and 84, the health department reports.

In all, there remains 299 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 at Utah hospitals, up three from Tuesday’s numbers.

An increase of 7,364 people were tested and more than 1,052,059 people in Utah have been tested since the onset of the pandemic in mid-March.

Health care officials have said they’d like to be able to test everyone in order to get a better handle on COVID-19 and help stop the now rampant spread throughout the state.

All but 14 of the United States are experiencing high numbers of disease transmission, according to covidexitstrategy.org, which is compiling state and national data “to track each state’s progress toward stopping the spread of COVID-19,” according to the organization’s website.

Utah has one of the highest levels of positivity rates for the traditional PCR COVID-19 tests, which involves a collection of fluid from the nose or saliva to detect genetic material of the virus.

Hospitals throughout Utah have reported record capacity levels due to rampant spread of disease, even stating that rationed care may be the impending result.

Data analyzed by the physics department at Weber State University in Ogden show that Utah County cases are climbing more rapidly than anywhere else in the state, though spiking cases are reported in 21 of 29 counties in the state. All of those counties are designated as high transmission rate counties, according to the COVID-19 Transmission Index, the state’s latest COVID-19 strategy.

The index indicates that masks are required in public in all counties where high transmission patterns are exhibited. Gathering sizes are also limited to no more than 10 people in high and moderate transmission counties, through Oct. 29.

Weber State’s data, compiled by physics professor Dan Schroeder, shows that “testing is widely available (at least by U.S. standards) across the state of Utah.” Furthermore, he writes, that testing more people would result in more positive test results, particularly in high transmission areas.

A breakdown of new cases reported on Wednesday by health district:

• Salt Lake County, 703
• Utah County, 328.
• Weber-Morgan, 126.
• Davis County, 125.
• Southwest Utah, 98.
• Bear River, 48.
• Central Utah, 32.
• Tooele County, 28.
• Southeast Utah, 22.
• Summit County, 21.
• Wasatch County, 21.
• TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 12.
• San Juan County, 11.

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