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Workers with the Salt Lake County Health Department test for COVID-19 in the parking lot of the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. The free testing was set up for residents of Kearns, Magna, Taylorsville, West Valley City or the west side of Salt Lake City. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has topped 50,000 in Utah.
An additional 407 new cases reported by the Utah Department of Health on Wednesday brings the total number of known cases to 50,174. Thus far, 401 Utahns have died in the pandemic, including four new deaths reported Wednesday.
Previous backlogs in testing results were fixed in Wednesday’s reports, as well, showing that more than 637,329 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Utah since the pandemic hit the state in mid-March. An additional 6,730 tests were reported on Wednesday.
Herbert said anyone with even one symptom, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, chills or a decreased sense of taste or smell, should be tested.
“We have the capacity in the state to test anybody who needs it,” said Dr. Angela Dunn, state epidemiologist with the health department.
The rolling seven-day average number of positive tests is 376 per day, with a positivity rate of 8.6%.
New deaths due to COVID-19 in Utah include a Davis County man, between the age of 25 and 44; a Salt Lake County man between ages 60 and 84, who was a resident at a long-term health care facility; a Utah County man between age 45 and 64, who was a resident of a long-term care facility; and a Wasatch County man older than 85, who was also a resident of a long-term care facility.
Salt Lake County, where the majority of the state’s population lives and works, continues to have the highest number of cases in the state, but officials have said the wearing of masks has helped slow the spread of disease.
The county reported Tuesday there has been at least a 96% compliance rate where masks in public are concerned in Salt Lake County based on observations conducted earlier in the month. About 8% of people wearing masks in public were observed to be wearing them incorrectly, which can be problematic, said David Schuld, who is heading up the county’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
Face coverings are an effective tool, when worn effectively, he said, noting that the county’s case rate peaked within two weeks of officials mandating masks and hospitalizations also continue to decrease.
“We all need to be proud of what progress we have made,” Dunn said, with key indicators of controlling the disease stabilizing in Utah.
Fewer daily cases are reported, including a lower percent positivity rating, and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are also down in Utah — 100 fewer people are occupying hospital beds than was the case at the beginning of August, Dunn said.
“We are certainly heading in the right direction,” she said. “We are doing a …read more
Source:: Deseret News – Utah News
