Priscilla Nielsen, an advanced emergency medical technician for the Unified Fire Authority, wears a COVID-19 suit at Station 126 in Midvale on Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Utah surpassed 500 deaths from COVID-19 last week, reporting a total of 517 deaths as of Sunday. Each of these cases represents a patient who wouldn’t have otherwise died had they not had COVID-19, despite posts on the internet claiming contrary information.
Here’s a breakdown of the data:
At the onset of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans the coronavirus would put older adults at risk. This is represented in Utah’s data as roughly 74% of all COVID deaths were 65 years or older.
Nearly half of all coronavirus-related deaths in the state are reported in adults aged 65-84. Including those 85 and up in that number increases to 74.3%.
The average age for Utah deaths from COVID-19 is about 73 years old. The median age is 76.
There’s a disparity when it comes to gender, with men dying at higher rates than women. In Utah, 61.7% of COVID deaths are male and 37.9% are female.
This reflects a larger picture of data that suggests men are more likely to die from the coronavirus — although it’s still unclear why.
Almost 78% of Utah deaths due to COVID-19 also reported a pre-existing condition. These conditions could be anything ranging from diabetes, chronic kidney or liver problems, smoking, or are immunocompromised.
Just over half of the 512 reported deaths (52.2%) were hospitalized at the time of their passing.
San Juan County has been hit the hardest in terms of COVID-19 deaths, with a 4% death rate among its confirmed coronavirus cases. The county reports 29 deaths as of Sunday, with a total of 722 cases.
Wasatch County comes in second with a 0.89% death rate — reporting eight deaths from its 901 confirmed cases.
In terms of numbers, Salt Lake County has reported the highest number of COVID-related deaths reporting 279 cases as of Sunday. That accounts for a 0.7% death rate.
Utah County reports the second-highest number of deaths at 67 which accounts for a 0.29% death rate.
Utah reported its first COVID-19 death March 22, reporting a total of nine deaths that month. The state saw a steady increase in coronavirus-related deaths over the coming months: 38 in April, 70 in May and 70 in June.
Over the first four months of the pandemic, the state reported a total of 187 deaths — about 36% of the total COVID deaths. The remaining 64% came in July through October.
Utah experienced a spike in COVID-19 deaths during July, reporting the highest single-day count with nine deaths on July 23.
In total, Utah reported 139 deaths in July — which is 27% of the state’s total COVID-19 death count. During that time the state saw an average of about four deaths per day.
In September, Utah reported a total of 64 deaths — the lowest monthly increase since April. However, September is also when Utah began seeing an uptick in cases reporting an average of 722 cases per day (21,670 total).
The state reported its second-highest single-day count this month, with eight deaths on Oct. 6. However, not all deaths from the last week have been reported, so this COVID-19 data may change.
