Utah confirms 1,068 new COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths Saturday

Sven Karabegovic holds his COVID-19 saliva test while giving his information to Tiffany Larsen at a drive-thru test site at University of Utah Health’s South Jordan Health Center in South Jordan on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah health officials reported 1,068 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths on Saturday.

The cases were confirmed of 7,097 reported tests, with a 15% positive rate, according to the Utah Department of Health.

Now 76,225 cases have been confirmed of 852,680 people tested in Utah since the pandemic began, an 8.9% rate. The rolling seven-day average for new cases is 951 per day, and the average positive test rate is 13.9%.

Most of the new cases on Saturday were again confirmed in Salt Lake County, with 44%, and Utah County, with 27%. But Utah County is seeing a sharp decline in its surge less than two weeks after officials implemented a countywide mask mandate and Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University officials asked students to stay home except for essential travel.

Some rural areas saw higher-than-average case counts on Saturday. Central Utah — which throughout much of the pandemic has seen new daily cases in the single digits — confirmed a record 20 new cases. Southwest Utah also reached its highest daily case count since July with 70.

Currently, 176 patients are hospitalized in Utah with COVID-19, 14 fewer than were hospitalized on Friday. Hospitalizations in the state since the outbreak started now total 3,956.

The deaths reported Saturday bring the state’s toll due to the disease to 467. They were a Wasatch County man between 65 and 84, and a Juab County man older than 85, both of whom were long-term care facility residents.

About 56,800 of Utah’s cases are considered recovered after surviving the three-week point since their diagnoses, meaning 19,000 cases remain active.

New COVID-19 cases reported Saturday by health district across Utah:

• Salt Lake County, 471.
• Utah County, 291.
• Davis County, 89.
• Southwest Utah, 70.
• Bear River, 43.
• Weber-Morgan, 43.
• Central Utah, 20.
• Wasatch County, 16.
• Summit County, 10.
• Tooele County, 10.
• TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 3.
• Southeast Utah, 2.
• San Juan County, 0.

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