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The rate of positive COVID-19 test results in Utah rose sharply on Tuesday, reaching its highest level yet — which suggests many infected people are not being tested, state health officials have said.
Statewide, Utah’s rate of positive tests has been above 5% since May 25, according to Utah Department of Health (UDOH) data. The previous high was 10.57 percent, on July 19.
With 562 new coronavirus cases reported on Tuesday, Utah’s rate of new diagnoses stayed above the governor’s target of fewer than 400 cases per day.
For the past seven days, Utah has averaged 521 new positive test results per day, UDOH said. Gov. Gary Herbert had said he wanted the state to get below 400 new cases per day by Sept. 1, a goal Utah met in mid-August but surpassed again this month.
The virus continued to spread quickly in Utah County, which recorded 198 new cases Tuesday — the most of any county in the state. For the past seven days, Utah County has averaged 32 new cases a day per 100,000 people, compared to averages of 16 statewide and 16 in Salt Lake County.
The rise is concentrated around Provo, home to Brigham Young University. Provo has averaged more than 70 new daily cases per 100,000 residents; state health officials have said college-age young adults comprise the bulk of the county’s recent new cases. Highland and Mapleton also have posted sharp increases in the past week, according to county data. Utah County is at the “yellow,” or low restriction, level; Provo is under a mask order.
New cases also have risen sharply in northern Utah’s Bear River Health District, which includes Utah State University. The school has reported 143 new cases since fall term began, 21 of them yesterday. Its seven-day averages for new cases more than doubled in less than two weeks, from six a day per 100,000 residents on Sept. 2, to 14 on Tuesday.
Utah’s death toll from the coronavirus stood at 436 on Tuesday, same as Monday.
There were 128 Utah patients concurrently hospitalized, UDOH reported. On average, 124 patients have been receiving treatment in Utah hospitals each day for the past week — well below the peak average of 211 patients hospitalized each day at the end of July.
In total, 3,361 patients have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, up 23 from Monday.
There were 3,930 new test results reported on Tuesday, below the weeklong average of 4,324 new tests per day. Testing demand remains far below mid-July, when the state was reporting more than 7,000 new test results per day, on average.
Since public schools began opening on Aug. 13, there have been 47 outbreaks in schools, affecting 245 patients, with two new outbreaks and 30 new cases reported in the past day.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 290 patients infected in 58 school outbreaks, with a median age of 16. Nine of those patients have been hospitalized; none have died.
Cases appear to be spreading with increasing speed in Salt Lake County’s K-12 schools. In the past two weeks, 235 new cases were reported among students and employees, with 209 of those reported in the past week.
Jordan School District, which has about 52,000 students, reported 49 new cases. Granite School District, which enrolls about 68,000, reported 42 new cases.
Of 59,000 Utahns who have tested positive for COVID-19, 49,327 are considered “recovered” — that is, they have survived for at least three weeks after being diagnosed.