SALT LAKE CITY-Thursday, at the Utah State Capitol Building, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Utah State epidemiologist Dr. Angela C. Dunn spoke to the media for the weekly briefing on the coronavirus.
Dunn revealed the latest stats to commence the meeting.
There have been 13,252 cases of COVID-19 in Utah since statistics began being kept. This is an increase of 388 cases in the past 24 hours and represents a net increase of 83 in the past 24 hours.
There have also been 7,745 recovered cases in the Beehive State, or 58.4 percent of those who have had the virus. This is an increase of 158 recoveries in the past 24 hours, but a net decrease of 38 from Wednesday’s totals.
There are presently 5,376 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah, or 40.6 percent of those who have had the virus. This is an increase of 227 active cases in the past 24 hours. For the first time in five days, the new active cases of the virus exceeded the amount of recovered cases in the past 24 hours.
There have been 254,688 total tests administered for COVID-19 which is a net increase of 4,928 tests in the past 24 hours.
This increased the overall positive test percentage to 5.20 percent but the 24-hour positive test percentage slumped from 10.5 percent-7.87 percent in the past 24 hours.
There have now been 968 hospitalizations in Utah from COVID-19. This is an increase of 14 from the previous day’s totals. However the current hospitalizations slumped from 130 on Wednesday to 119 on Thursday.
This -11 net decrease dropped the current hospitalization percentage from 13.6 percent to 12.29 percent.
There are three new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Utah.
One of these was a Salt Lake County woman who died in a long-term healthcare facility and over the age of 85.
Another one was a Salt Lake County man between the ages of 60 and 85 who was hospitalized at the time of his death.
The third one was a Utah County man between the ages of 18 and 60 who was hospitalized when he died.
Wasatch County had a moderate increase in cases in the past 24 hours as there are now 341 cases of COVID-19 in the county. There remain 15 hospitalizations and 2 deaths in Wasatch County. The most recent death occurred May 31.
Dunn exhorted Utahns to continue adhering to social distancing rules. Dunn did confirm as well that gatherings of up to 6,000 are possible so long as social distancing guidelines and hygiene are adhered to.
Herbert, after hearing Dunn give the stats, informed Utahns that choke holds in police training in the Beehive State, will now be disallowed.
Herbert also confirmed that Kane County will be allowed to advance from yellow-green Friday at 10:00 am.
Furthermore, he has granted permission for Bluff and Mexican Hat, in San Juan County, to advance from orange to yellow.
For the time being, Herbert mentioned that the Beehive State is in a “pause” in yellow. In citing the Utah Department of Health’s statistics, Herbert said that the state will continue to look at the data before making any decisions to advance on the color wheel.
Herbert did indicate, however, that “it is possible to slow the spread of COVID-19 and still have economic activity.”
