COVID-19 testing is done as University of Utah Health’s Wellness Bus visits a neighborhood in West Valley City on Wednesday, July 15, 2020. The 40-foot RV was specially designed to travel to underserved neighborhoods to provide health consultations, screenings and education. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

By Ashley Imlay

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah health officials confirmed 473 more cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday and one additional death.

The new cases were reported out of 3,456 tests — a lower number of tests than the past several days — for a positive rate of about 13.7%, according to the Utah Department of Health. They bring the state’s total since the pandemic began to 41,175 COVID-19 cases out of 536,716 people tested, a 7.7% positive rate.

The state is maintaining its daily average below 500, which Gov. Gary Herbert early last month challenged residents to do by Aug. 1 or face potential restrictions such as a statewide mask mandate. The rolling seven-day average for new cases is 447 per day, and the average positivity rate is 10%.

The death reported Sunday was a Davis County woman between the ages of 65 and 84, who was a resident in a long-term care facility.

More than 29,000 of the state’s cases are considered recovered after surviving the three-week point since their diagnoses.

On Friday, the governor’s office confirmed he is still considering a mask mandate and will watch Utah’s case counts into next week before he makes a decision.

Hospitalizations

Currently, 203 people in Utah are hospitalized with the disease, seven fewer than on Saturday. Just over 2,400 cases have needed hospitalization for the coronavirus in Utah since the outbreak began.

Utah’s hospitalization rate of confirmed case has fallen from between 8-10% at the start of the pandemic to 5.9%.

Hospital officials noted last week that while they had feared a surge in hospital demand as cases spiked starting in June, data shows those who contributed the most to the surge in cases belong to the group less likely to become seriously ill from the disease.

Hospitalizations appeared to spike on July 8, when 36 new patients were admitted to hospitals to be treated for the disease.

During the statewide surge, the largest increase in cases occurred in those ages 15-24, who accounted for nearly 200 and up to 250 of the state’s daily cases most days beginning in mid-June, according to state data. That age range represents 9,209 of the state’s cases since the pandemic began but just 153 hospitalizations.

Last week, new cases in that age group began to plateau.

The age group that represented the second-highest increase during the state’s surge occurred in the 25-44 age range. That group represents 15,750 of Utah’s cases and 594 hospitalizations.

But those 45-64, which make up 9,969 of the state’s cases, belong to the group that has required the most hospitalizations, with 920.

Though far fewer people ages 65-84 and 85 and older have tested positive for the disease, they have the highest hospitalization rates, with a 22-24% chance of requiring hospitalization if they contract the disease.

The latest breakdown of Utah cases, hospitalizations and deaths by health district:

  • Salt Lake County, 19,408; 1,251 hospitalized; 176 deaths.
  • Utah County, 7,949; 373 hospitalized; 35 deaths.
  • Davis County, 3,008; 169 hospitalized; 14 deaths.
  • Southwest Utah, 2,983; 167 hospitalized; 24 deaths.
  • Weber-Morgan, 2,624; 162 hospitalized; 25 deaths.
  • Bear River (Box Elder, Cache, Rich), 2,184; 97 hospitalized; 6 deaths.
  • Summit County, 695; 53 hospitalized; 1 death.
  • San Juan County, 623; 78 hospitalized; 24 deaths.
  • Tooele County, 537; 26 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
  • Wasatch County, 531; 20 hospitalized; 4 deaths.
  • Central Utah, 381; 21 hospitalized; 2 deaths.
  • TriCounty (Uinta Basin), 164; 9 hospitalized; 0 deaths.
  • Southeast Utah, 88; 4 hospitalized; 0 deaths.