Utah COVID-19 cases increase 13%, but July 4 gap in testing a likely cause

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·2 min read

New coronavirus cases leaped in Utah in the week ending Sunday, rising 13.3% as 7,789 cases were reported. The previous week had 6,872 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Utah ranked 26th 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 increased 29% from the week before, with 947,862 cases reported. With 0.96% of the country's population, Utah had 0.82% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 42 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

The Fourth of July holiday disrupted who got tested, when people got tested and when both test results and deaths were reported. This may significantly skew week-to-week comparisons.

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Governor Spencer Cox meets with pharmacists Cliff Holt at Hurricane Family Pharmacy Friday, March 18, 2022.
Governor Spencer Cox meets with pharmacists Cliff Holt at Hurricane Family Pharmacy Friday, March 18, 2022.

Within Utah, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in San Juan County with 340 cases per 100,000 per week; Tooele County with 313; and Salt Lake County with 272. 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 3,162 cases; Utah County, with 1,284 cases; and Davis County, with 950. Weekly case counts rose in six counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Salt Lake, Utah and Davis counties.

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

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In Utah, ​ 22 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 13 people were reported dead.

A total of 997,556 people in Utah have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 4,869 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 89,542,107 people have tested positive and 1,023,799 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Utah's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, July 17.

Likely COVID-19 patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 384

  • The week before that: 395

  • Four weeks ago: 308

Likely COVID-19 patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 73,328

  • The week before that: 67,692

  • Four weeks ago: 57,602

Hospitals in 36 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 27 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 40 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 cases increase, with worst in Salt Lake County