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For the first time in two months, the state averaged fewer than 400 new cases over a weeklong period.
On Sunday, the Utah Department of Health reported 331 new cases, for a seven-day rolling average of 357 and a total of 46,652 cases. No new deaths were reported Sunday, for a total of 27 over the past week.
The amount of deaths over the past week was accentuated Monday, when the state reported nine deaths — the highest single-day tally so far in August.
An increase of 3,626 people were tested Saturday (598,527 total have been tested). Testing over the past seven days was significantly lower than the previous week. One of the possible ways to explain the lower testing numbers could be that fewer people are getting sick.
The declining numbers bode well for the state. Gov. Gary Herbert had said he wanted the state to get below 400 new cases per day by Sept. 1. So far, it looks like the goal will be met.
While Utah did see an increase in numbers Friday, the 552 new diagnoses added to the state total weren’t all as they seemed. Of the 552 cases, 144 were from a delay in reporting from a lab since early July. The state did not identify the lab that processed the cases.
The new plateau, with cases in the 300s each day this week, is lower than the state has experienced since early June, when the spike began.
The trend also fits in Salt Lake County, where the seven-day rolling average of cases continues to slowly decline, going from 170 to 163 this week.
Hospitalizations are also trending down. Over the past five days, the number of Utahns hospitalized went down from 200 to 164, and the number of individuals in intensive care units this week fell from 81 to a low of 64 on Sunday.
The rate of tests with positive results was at 9.5% on Sunday, a number that has been slowly increasing over the past few days.
Although case numbers have decreased, the virus is still very much prevalent in communities. State epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn has said a 3% positivity rate would indicate the virus is under control.
Meanwhile, this past week also saw the return of in-person classes for some school districts throughout the state and even the start of the high school football season. Weber and Bingham high schools saw their season opener canceled after three players tested positive for COVID-19.
The state also made two moves Friday to redefine how the state plans to manage coronavirus outbreaks: Students returning to school this fall must wear face masks, the state clarified Friday in a new public health order, and Herbert issued an executive order that changes the terminology around its color-coded response to the coronavirus.
Now, instead of referring to the colors as “risk levels,” the order renames them “levels of restriction.”
The state’s public health and economic recovery committee also decided on Friday that data shows Salt Lake City could move from the orange, moderate restriction level to the less-restrictive yellow, but Mayor Erin Mendenhall says she won’t make the move just yet.
So far, 37,701 Utahns are considered recovered, meaning they have survived for at least three weeks after being diagnosed.
