SALT LAKE CITY — One more person has died from COVID-19 in Utah, officials reported Monday.

The latest fatality was a man who lived in the Bear River Health District, which covers Cache, Rich and Box Elder counties. The man’s death marks the first from COVID-19 in that area.

The man was older than 60 and had some underlying medical conditions, said Dr. Angela Dunn, state epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health. He died while hospitalized.

Twenty-eight people have now died with COVID-19 in the state, most of whom were older than 60 and had underlying health conditions.

Long-term care facilities

While state and national statistics show that older adults and those with underlying conditions face greater risk from the disease, the fact that many live in group settings compounds that risk.

Several of Utah’s fatalities were staying in long-term care facilities when they contracted the disease.

That issue has struck Salt Lake County particularly hard, with at least eight people dying after outbreaks in long-term care.

Ilene Risk, Salt Lake County Health Department epidemiology bureau manager, said her team has investigated “multiple” outbreaks in long-term, congregant living facilities. Those settings, similar to large families, tend to see high rates of transmission.

Once a case is confirmed in a facility, health workers work to test the entire facility for the disease, quarantine those who test positive, and continue tracking the facility over time.

Those who test negative are tested again in two weeks, Dunn said.

In the fight against the virus, at least two Salt Lake City nursing centers have become COVID-19-only treatment facilities during the pandemic — but it’s too soon to tell if that has been effective in stemming the outbreaks and preventing deaths.

“The numbers that we have are too small to know so far, but it only makes sense because if you have people … that you identify the people who are infected as quickly as possible and you remove them or isolate them so they’re no longer in a group setting. So we do know that that is the best way for preventing further spread,” Risk said.

Other at-risk communities

State and local health officials are working to respond to other communities being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. As of Monday’s update from the Utah Health Department, 30.9% of Utah’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 are among those in the Latino and Hispanic community, while they only make up 13.9% of the state’s population.

Salt Lake County officials are investigating what’s driving those rates but believe one factor might be fewer people getting tested in those communities, Risk said.

But testing rates remain relatively low in the county and state overall, she said, meaning it’s too soon to tell which communities are most impacted.

Lower testing rates create a lack of understanding among community members about what’s occurring and the distribution of disease in that community — residents could be at greater risk and not know it, Risk said.

“In public health, we’ve also been focused on specific populations over the past week that have had outbreaks or are at higher risk of COVID-19 transmission such as long-term care facilities. ... We’ve worked with homeless shelters and done a lot of testing there, as well as some hot spots in Summit County,” Dunn said.

Dunn also announced Monday that the Utah Health Department is focusing on understanding why some populations are “bearing a bigger burden of disease with COVID-19 than others.”

Officials will work with local health districts and community organizations to address testing, care and isolation barriers, Dunn said.

Flattening the curve

The number of people with positive test results grew to 3,213 in the Beehive State, 144 more since Sunday, according to the Utah Department of Health. Just over 4,800 test results were reported Monday, bringing the total number of those tested to 68,311. The rate of positives is now 4.7%.

“We’re looking at our trends of growth rate and cases, and we are starting to see a little bit of a flattening of the curve over the past week or so,” Dunn said.

But less testing occurred last week, she said. Officials are evaluating the data to ensure the decrease continues before recommending social distancing restrictions be loosened.

Dunn said officials are also preparing for a “potential second wave” of the virus when flu season returns in fall.

“What’s particularly concerning about a potential second wave is that we don’t have a lot of cases here in Utah, so we can’t expect for a lot of herd immunity. And a vaccine won’t be available by then. So we’re going to have to continue to rely upon people isolating themselves when they are sick to prevent the spread of disease further,” according to Dunn.

The state has not yet reported numbers of those currently hospitalized.

View Comments

“We have reports from our hospitals about their estimated current hospitalization numbers due to COVID-19, however, we’re working with them on standardizing how they report so it’s consistent across all hospitals. Right now, they’re all reporting in a little bit of a variety of ways, and so before we present it publicly, we just want to make sure it’s a consistent number,” Dunn said.

Officials hope to release those numbers by the end of the week, she said.

Two-hundred sixty-eight residents have required hospitalization at some point during the pandemic. That is nine more hospitalizations since Sunday.

A breakdown of Utah COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths by health district:

  • Salt Lake County, 1,671; 140 hospitalized; 15 deaths.
  • Utah County, 498; 26 hospitalized; 5 deaths.
  • Summit County, 331; 31 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
  • Davis County, 242; 21 hospitalized; 2 deaths.
  • Weber-Morgan, 124; 14 hospitalized; 1 death.
  • Wasatch County, 118; 6 hospitalized; 1 death.
  • Southwest Utah, 70; 9 hospitalized; 1 death.
  • Bear River, 55; 10 hospitalized; 1 death.
  • Tooele County, 41; 4 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
  • San Juan County, 29; 5 hospitalized; 2 deaths.
  • TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 10; 1 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
  • Central Utah, 17; 1 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
  • Southeast Utah, 7; 0 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.