Utah reports another COVID death during first weekend of gradual reopening

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Department of Health reported one more death in its Sunday case update, bringing the state’s total to 50 since the virus broke out in mid-March. This brings the weekend’s total to four deaths, after the department reported three deaths in its update Saturday. 

The patient whose death was reported Sunday was a female from Salt Lake County between 45-64 years old. She was hospitalized with a history o f underlying medical conditions.  

Utah has reported a total of 5,175 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which is an increase of 194 from Saturday — roughly a 3.7% increase. The state’s health department has administered 122,102 tests, with 4.2% total testing positive. 

Of those cases, 2,283 are considered “recovered” — meaning they were diagnosed over three weeks ago and have not died from the virus. This is roughly a 44% recovery rate in the state. 

These numbers reflect the first weekend after the state has begun its gradual reopening process, moving from its red “Urgent Phase” to the orange “Stabilization Phase.” The state reports 436 total hospitalizations, increasing the count from Saturday by 18.