Utah shatters COVID-19 numbers for 2nd day, plus record 17 new deaths

Medical assistant Stephen Sprague handles a COVID-19 test at a drive-thru test site in the parking lot of Rice Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — For the second day in a row, Utah health officials reported another record in new COVID-19 cases with nearly 3,000 — and 17 new deaths, the most confirmed in a single day during the pandemic.

Friday’s 2,987 new cases were reported out of 11,220 people tested, with a 26.6% positive rate, according to the Utah Department of Health.

The previous record for daily new cases was set Thursday when 2,807 cases were reported in the Beehive State, which was 515 more than the previous record that was set on Oct. 30.

On Friday, 395 people were hospitalized with the disease in Utah, six more than were hospitalized on Thursday. It marks the highest number of current coronavirus hospitalizations in the state.

The state’s Unified Command team announced Friday it intends to “explore” using Apple/Google’s Exposure Notification Express (EN Express) tool to notify residents through their cellphones of potential exposures to COVID-19.

“Due to this, and uncertainty with future budgets, the state has canceled its previously issued request for proposal from vendors to integrate Bluetooth technology with the Healthy Together mobile app. Vendors who submitted proposals were notified earlier today of the state’s plans,” the Utah Department of Health said in a statement.

The Apple/Google tool notifies people of potential exposure to the disease through software on both Apple and Android devices. Officials say it provides privacy protection for users.

“Anyone notified of an exposure will not receive any information about the person who potentially exposed them. Additionally, no location or exposure information is shared with the state or other third parties,” officials said in the statement.

Additional information will be posted throughout the day.

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