Utah COVID-19 case rates fall; state now ranks 47th in US in per-capita case counts

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read

Utah reported 2,947 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, down 6.2% from the previous week. The previous week had 3,143 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Utah ranked 47th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 17.1% from the week before, with 543,317 cases reported. With 0.96% of the country's population, Utah had 0.54% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.

Across Utah, cases fell in four counties, with the best declines in Salt Lake County, with 1,117 cases from 1,294 a week earlier; in Tooele County, with 61 cases from 84; and in Davis County, with 342 cases from 351.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within Utah, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in San Juan County with 268 cases per 100,000 per week; Salt Lake County with 96; and Davis County with 96. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Salt Lake County, with 1,117 cases; Utah County, with 471 cases; and Davis County, with 342.

In Utah, 13 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 15 people were reported dead.

A total of 1,029,759 people in Utah have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 4,981 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,748,404 people have tested positive and 1,047,498 people have died.

Note: For Utah, Johns Hopkins University reports data mostly by health department, such as the combined Weber-Morgan agency. Weber and Morgan counties may be marked as having no cases. The county-level data for Utah is considerably worse than it is for any other state, and county comparisons may be wildly misleading.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Utah's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 4. Likely COVID-19 patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 224

  • The week before that: 210

  • Four weeks ago: 329

Likely COVID-19 patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 63,337

  • The week before that: 64,048

  • Four weeks ago: 71,125

Hospitals in 10 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 15 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 21 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Utah COVID-19 case counts drop to among lowest in US