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Utah’s rate of positive tests for the coronavirus is rising faster than almost all other states, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins.
For the past week, 9.4% of Utah’s COVID-19 tests came back positive, up 2.5% from the week before, according to Tuesday’s report, All State Comparison of Testing Efforts. That’s a bigger jump than all other states except Massachusetts (3.3%), Arizona (3.7%) and Georgia (16.5%).
The rising positive rate corresponds with an ongoing rise in new cases — and a new high in the number of coronavirus patients receiving hospital care at the same time.
Another 237 Utahns had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday, state health officials reported, and another three had died.
The state’s death toll from COVID-19 is now 127, the Utah Department of Health reported on Tuesday. The newly reported deaths include a Utah County man between age 18 and 60, who was not hospitalized when he died; a Davis County man who lived in a long-term care facility and was older than 85; and a Salt Lake County man who was between age 60 and 85 and lived in a long-term care facility.
Since Monday, 13 Utahns were newly reported to be hospitalized, with 125 coronavirus patients currently in hospitals. That’s the highest number of hospitalized patients since the beginning of the pandemic, seven more than Sunday’s previous high of 118. In total, 931 Utahns have required hospital care for COVID-19.
A total of 12,559 Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19. Health officials received results for 3,961 patients on Monday, with 246,860 patients tested since the beginning of the pandemic.
Of all those who have tested positive, 7,391 are considered “recovered” — that is, they have survived for at least three weeks after diagnosis.
