Utah set another record on Friday with 1,411 new COVID-19 cases reported by the Utah Department of Health. The health department wants anyone with symptoms to get tested for the disease.
Utah’s current spike in COVID-19 infections showed no signs of stopping on Friday with the state setting yet another single day record for new positive cases with 1,411.
Utah first surpassed 1,000 cases in a day last week and prompted Governor Gary Herbert to move Provo and Orem back to the state’s orange risk level. The two Utah County cities are where a significant proportion of new cases are coming from.
With back-to-back days of over 1,000 new cases and the state’s rolling seven day average of positive cases now at 960 per day, Governor Herbert indicated more government intervention may be necessary at his monthly news conference on Thursday.
“That is the threat, I guess, that is out there,” Herbert said. “We’re trying to do this incrementally. We don’t want to overreact, we don’t want to underreact, we’re trying to find that right balance point and the epicenter of all these infections are coming out of Orem and Provo. Again, we are trying to do what I’ve called a more scalpeled [sic] approach here but, certainly, if need be, we can expand that scalpel. We hope that doesn’t happen.”
The 15-24 year old demographic has been largely responsible for the spike in cases since schools reopened in August. The Utah Department of Health released a statement on Friday saying although young people make up the bulk of positive cases now, the department expects those increases will spill over to other age groups as well, potentially increasing hospitalizations and deaths.
Utah’s current COVID-19 mortality rate sits at under one percent, which is significantly lower than the national average of about three percent. As of Friday, there are currently 184 COVID-19 related hospitalizations in Utah and 448 deaths have been reported since the start of the pandemic in March.