According to the Utah Department of Health, the man was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized at the time of his death. This brings the number of Summit County residents who have died of COVID-19 to 20.
Statewide, the health department reported 17 other deaths Wednesday. 4,091 Utahhs have died of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic.
The omicron surge that has swept across the country this month appears to be slowing down in Summit and Wasatch counties. According to county health dashboards, case counts and positive tests in Summit and Wasatch counties are declining from highs seen roughly 10 days ago, though the number of people getting tested is also down. That may be due in part to state direction to residents not to get tested unless they have serious underlying conditions.
In Summit County, levels of the virus found in wastewater are also declining, further showing that the virus is beginning to slow up.
According to Summit County health officials, only one county resident has been admitted to the ICU in the last 30 days. Statewide, 89% of COVID center ICU beds are occupied.
Utah saw 7,500 new cases Wednesday, down from a high of over 13,000 on January 14th. Earlier this month as testing centers were overwhelmed with people, the health department asked those who feel sick to assume they are positive and isolate for five days from when their symptoms began. The percentage of positive lab tests has increased, with over 46% of statewide tests now coming back positive.
