UTAH, Feb. 8, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Department of Health on Monday reported two more COVID-19 deaths and 514 new cases documented in the past 24 hours.
That brings case numbers to a cumulative 355,122 documented positive cases, and known coronavirus deaths in Utah to 1,738.
The two who died were:
- A male, between 65-84, Washington County resident, hospitalized at time of death
- A female, between 45-64, Utah County resident, hospitalized at time of death
A total of 417,024 vaccines have been administered in Utah, which is 3,087 more than yesterday. The chart below shows the numbers broken down by area of the state.
COVID-19 tests administered in Utah number 2,079,688, an increase of 3,653 people tested since yesterday.
The UDoH is now reporting two measures of percent positivity. One measure is determined by dividing the total of unique individuals who tested positive by the unique number of people tested. UDoH calls this the “people over people” method. This method does not account for people who have had repeat positive or negative tests in the past 90 days. This is the method the health department has been using to report percent positive since the beginning of the pandemic. It biases the percent positivity higher in the current testing environment.
Starting Monday the health department will also report percent positivity based on the total positive tests divided by the total number of tests administered. Officials call this the “test over test” method; this method is now used by at least 37 other states and provides a better comparison between what is happening across the country. This method accounts for people who have repeat positive or negative test results and more accurately reflects UDoH’s increase in testing. It biases the percent positivity lower in the current testing environment.
While the specific percent positivity will be different between the two methods, the overall trends for each are very similar.
You can watch a discussion of these two methods here, or can read more about them here.
The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “people over people” is 15.4%. The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests” is 7.3%. The rolling seven-day average for positive tests is 1,133 per day.
There are 308 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Total hospitalizations from the beginning of the outbreak are 13,889.
The chart below shows COVID-19 numbers broken down by area of the state.
