SALT LAKE CITY — Utah reached its record high for current COVID-19 hospitalizations as health officials reported another 1,200 COVID-19 cases and seven deaths on Sunday.
The cases were confirmed out of 5,677 tests, a 21.1% positive rate, according to the Utah Department of Health. The rolling seven-day average for new cases is 1,161 per day, and the average positive test rate is 13.9%.
Currently, 254 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Utah, 23 more than on Saturday. Just under 120 of the state’s coronavirus patients are in Salt Lake County hospitals.
The Utah Department of Health began releasing current hospitalizations in addition to cumulative hospitalizations in May. The state hit its summer high number of hospitalizations on July 24, with 225. On Wednesday, hospitalizations in Utah began climbing back above 225 again.
Just one month ago, the state was confirming half as many daily hospitalizations with the coronavirus.
But overall hospital use remained at an average level on Sunday, with 67.4% of the state’s nearly 600 intensive care unit beds full with mostly non-coronavirus patients. Just over 52% of the state’s nonintensive care units were full.
The seven deaths reported Sunday bring the state’s toll due to COVID-19 to 517 people. They were: three Salt Lake County men and one Tooele County man between 65-84, all of whom were hospitalized when they died; a Cache County man between 65-84 and Davis County man older than 85, both of whom were long-term care residents; and a Washington County man between 45-64, who was also hospitalized when he died.
Now 85,844 cases have been confirmed of 918,571 people tested since the start of the pandemic, a 9.3% positive rate. Hospitalizations in Utah during the outbreak now total 4,306.
About 63,300 cases are considered recovered from the disease after surviving the three-week point since their diagnoses, meaning more than 22,000 cases remain active.
New COVID-19 cases reported Sunday by health district:
- Salt Lake County, 534.
- Utah County, 317.
- Davis County, 110.
- Bear River, 64.
- Weber-Morgan, 56.
- Southwest Utah, 51.
- Central Utah, 25.
- Summit County, 13.
- Tooele County, 12.
- Wasatch County, 5.
- TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 5.
- Southeast Utah, 4.
- San Juan County, 4.