COVID-19 case numbers gradually declining in Utah

Utah National Guard soldiers staff a COVID-19 test site at the Fairpark in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

1,468 new cases, 8 deaths reported on Saturday

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox urged Utahns to double up on wearing face masks or upgrade the quality to help control further spread of the novel coronavirus — as well as new variants of the virus that are now circulating in the United States.

“The right quality mask protects the user as well as those around them,” Cox said during a Thursday news conference. He encouraged Utahns to purchase quality N95 or KN95 masks.

It remains unknown how well the available vaccines will work against the new variants, of which there are now several known, but it is clear the latest variants of COVID-19 are more transmissible, or more contagious.

The Utah Department of Health reported 1,468 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, after another 8,768 people were tested.

The state has tested more than 2 million people since last March and 300,516 vaccines have been administered, including an increase of 18,719 since Friday’s health department report. The rolling seven-day average number of daily cases is 1,509, with a percent of positive tests at 18% — the lowest it has been since before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Fewer people are also hospitalized with the virus, as the health department reports 430 now being treated in hospitals throughout the state. That is down from 446 COVID-19 hospitalizations reported on Friday.

Another eight people died with COVID-19, according to Saturday’s report, including:

• A Cache County man between age 65 and 84 who was hospitalized.
• A Davis County man between 65 and 84 who was hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County woman older than 85 who was not hospitalized at the time of her death.
• A Salt Lake County man between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County woman between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County man older than 85 who was hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County woman between 65 and 84 who was hospitalized.
• A Weber County woman older than 85 who was a long-term care facility resident.

This story will be updated.

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