SALT LAKE CITY — Utah health officials reported 2,231 new COVID-19 cases Monday and 10 more deaths in the state as the percentage of positive tests hit a record high.
The rolling seven-day average for the percent of positive laboratory tests for the deadly novel coronavirus was reported at just over 27% and has been climbing since just before Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 26.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests is 3,125 per day,
The numbers may continue to worsen in the coming days because of the holiday.
“We haven’t see the full effect of Thanksgiving yet,” said Jenny Johnson, the Utah Department of Health’s public information officer. She said 10 days after people are exposed is typically when they develop symptoms and seek out a test, although many won’t on a weekend, meaning larger case counts come at the end of the work week.
That also doesn’t take into account people who either take longer to develop symptoms or who are asymptomatic.
“Between now and the end of the week, for Thanksgiving Day, we should see cases. Now Thanksgiving weekend, you have a few more days, maybe very, very early next week,” Johnson said. “But that depends on people getting tested. Just because they’re exposed, doesn’t mean they go get tested.”
The high positivity rate suggests even more people may have contracted the virus.
“It’s very, very likely we’re missing a lot of disease in the community because we’re not testing enough,” Johnson said, urging Utahns who are feeling sick or believe they may have been exposed to the virus to get a test so precautions can be taken to slow the spread.
A total of 1,502,902 people have been tested for the virus in Utah, an increase of 7,551 since Sunday.
About three-quarters of people with COVID-19 develop symptoms within seven days, a number that increases to 95% by 10 days, although the incubation is 14 days. Johnson said some people may be mistaking the coronavirus for something else.
“They just might not recognize they have symptoms. They might be very mild or they’re not like, some people think, that they’re going to have an instant like, ‘I can’t breathe.’ Something like that is not necessarily the case,” she said, warning that people shouldn’t assume milder respiratory systems are due to the increasingly bad air or the flu.
“Flu activity right now is really, really low. There’s hardly any flu circulating. So if you’re sick, it’s probably COVID,” Johnson said, adding that getting tested lets someone know what they need to do to avoid exposing others to the virus, including isolating for at least 10 days.
There are 582 people currently hospitalized in Utah with the virus, Since the outbreak began, there have been 217,638 positive cases, and 949 deaths in the state. The deaths reported Monday are:
A Salt Lake County woman who was older than 85 and a long-term care facility resident; a Salt Lake County man older than 85 who was hospitalized when he died; a Salt Lake County woman between 65 and 84; a Sanpete County man, 65-84 years old, who was hospitalized at the time of death; a Utah County woman, 65-84, who was hospitalized when she died; a Utah County man, 65-84, and a long-term care facility resident; a Washington County woman, 65-84, who was a long-term care facility resident; a Washington County man, 65-84 years old, who was hospitalized at time of death; and a man and a woman from Weber County who were both between 65 and 84 and were long-term care facility residents.
