With 2,644 new coronavirus cases reported Friday, Utah’s rate of new diagnoses fell again — but with 14 new deaths, Friday marked the end of the virus’s deadliest two weeks in Utah.
The Utah Department of Health on Friday reported a seven-day average of 2,494 new positive test results per day — the lowest rate since Nov. 30.
But Utah’s death toll from the coronavirus stood at 1,140 Friday, with 14 fatalities reported since Thursday.
Hospitalizations were down slightly, with 539 Utah patients concurrently admitted, UDOH reported — the lowest count since Nov. 19.
In total, 1,243 patients have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, up more than 600 in the past week.
For the past week, 22.12% of all tests have come back positive, continuing an 11-day decline since the rate peaked at 27.1% in the first week of December. But state officials have said that when more than 3% of tests produce positive results, it suggests a large number of infected people are not being tested, and may be unwittingly infecting others.
There were 10,547 new test results reported Friday, below the weeklong average of about 12,100 new tests per day.
