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With 1,915 new coronavirus cases reported Tuesday, Utah’s rate of new diagnoses continued to fall.
The Utah Department of Health reported a seven-day average of 2,540 new positive test results per day — the lowest rate so far in December.
But Tuesday marked again the end of the virus’s deadliest monthlong stretch in Utah. There had been 1,077 Utah coronavirus deaths as of Tuesday, with 15 fatalities reported since Monday.
Hospitalizations were down slightly Tuesday, with 553 Utah patients concurrently admitted, UDOH reported. In total, 9,585 patients have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, up 99 from Monday.
For the past week, 23.2% of all tests have come back positive, continuing a decline that began about a week ago from the state’s record-high percentage of more than 27%.
But the percentage of positive tests remains high enough to indicate a large number of infected people are not being tested and may be spreading the virus unwittingly, state officials have said. Statewide, Utah’s rate of positive tests has been above 5% since May 25, according to UDOH data.
There were 9,012 new test results reported Tuesday, below the weeklong average of about 12,800 new tests per day.
