Utah Coronavirus Update, Monday, May 4

Utah has 5,317 confirmed coronavirus cases and no new deaths since Sunday as of Monday afternoon, according to state epidemiologist Angela Dunn. In Monday’s coronavirus briefing, she said the 142-case increase from Sunday shows a 2.7% growth increase in the state’s cases. Of the more than 124,000 Utahns who’ve been tested for the coronavirus, 4.2% of those tests have come back positive — a plateau the state has seen for more than a week. There are now 441 Utahns who have been hospitalized due to the virus and 50 total deaths.

Dunn said the state is working on a targeted testing effort for asymptomatic individuals who’ve had contact with confirmed cases, and this may roll out to the rest of the state. Community spread cases in Utah are dropping. Only 11% of Utah's coronavirus cases are considered a result of community spread, 60% of the state’s cases were caused by contact with someone outside of the household, 25% were due to contact with a friend or acquaintance, and 4% were contracted from the workplace.

There has been a spike of cases in the San Juan Health District, where the sovereign Navajo Nation has seen 116 cases since the outbreak began. Half of those were confirmed last week, and the Utah Department of Health’s mobile strike team has been deployed several times to increase testing.

Press briefings to update the public on coronavirus cases will now occur only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays rather than daily. Monday’s full briefing is available here.