Hospitals are preparing for a surge after Labor Day, as Utah reports 1,500 new COVID-19 cases

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Utah hospitals, which have already reached capacity, expect more people to become ill with the coronavirus on Labor Day weekends, according to key Utah doctors.

“We are preparing for that,” said Dr. Brandon Webb, an infectious disease physician at Intermountain Healthcare, in a community COVID-19 briefing on Facebook Live. “We expect the number of new cases to increase in the coming weeks, and new cases will lead to new hospitalizations.”

Another 1,539 Utahs were tested positive for COVID-19, the Utah Department of Health reported Wednesday, and eight more people in the state died from the virus.

Of the newly reported cases, 362 children were in grade K-12, accounting for almost a quarter of the total. There were 138 cases of children aged 5 to 10 years. 99 cases in children aged 11 to 13; 125 cases in children aged 14 to 18 years.

The 7-day rolling average of positive tests is 1,362 per day.

On Wednesday, 483 people were reported hospitalized — 175 in the intensive care unit.

According to Webb, the referral hospitals at Intermountain, the hub for the most serious cases of other hospitals, are over capacity. He said hospitals need to be “load levels” (moving patients from busy hospitals to less busy hospitals) and “use creative means” to continue to provide care.

“Especially on the faces of nurses and other health care providers at the forefront, we feel tired,” says Webb. Also, more healthcare professionals say, “I need to take time off from work to be a caregiver at home, and my children and other dependents get sick and need to be examined and go to the doctor myself. It is robbing our workforce. “

Historically, according to Webb, holiday weekends and associated rallies and events have led to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the community.

Webb said it’s hard to tell which incident was contracted on Labor Day’s holiday weekend and what was due to the start of school and other events. “If multiple events are happening all at once in the community, that would be difficult,” Webb said.

Another big event will be held on Saturday. A rival football game between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. More than 63,000 people are expected to fill Pro Bono’s LaVell Edwards Stadium, and the number of people who could gather at sports bars and homes to watch the game is unknown.

“Infection occurs from person to person,” Webb said. “Especially in indoor settings, but even in outdoor settings and stadiums where there are a lot of people and physical distance is not available, spending time nearby is more likely to cause sending events. is.”

By taking precautions, such as wearing a mask, you can reduce the chance of getting the virus, Webb said. “Wearing a mask is also effective in an outdoor stadium setting where you are sitting around others,” he said.

“I love college football,” Webb said. “The safe way to enjoy what we all love is … to do two things we need to do to reduce mutations. It’s about boosting immunity from vaccination. By preventing their exposure, we get infected. To reduce. “

Of the eight Utahns with additional deaths added to the state tally, two were under the age of 45 and one was a child or young adult (a girl or woman between the ages of 15 and 24 in Iron County).

In the last four weeks, unvaccinated Utahn was 5.2 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to UDOH analysis. Unvaccinated people were also 5.2 times more likely to be hospitalized and 4.5 times more likely to test positive for coronavirus.

Vaccine dose given in the last day / total dose given • UDOH did not report vaccine data on Wednesday because it is “currently conducting quality analysis”. The Department of Health hopes to resume reporting vaccines on Thursday.

Fully vaccinated Utahns • UDOH did not report vaccination counts on Wednesday.

Cases reported in the last day • 1,539.

Deaths reported in the last day • 8.

In Salt Lake County, three counties each reported two deaths. Men between the ages of 25 and 44 and women over the age of 85. Women aged 15 to 24 and men aged 65 to 84 in Iron County. Two men between the ages of 65 and 84 in Washington County.

Men in Utah County between the ages of 65 and 84 and women in Davis County over the age of 85 also died.

Tests reported in the last day • 10,349 people were tested for the first time. A total of 18,148 people were tested.

Hospitalizations reported in the last day • 483. That’s one more than Friday. Of the patients currently hospitalized, 175 are in the intensive care unit and have not changed since Tuesday.

Percentage of positive tests • In a state-specific way, the rate for the past day is 14.9%. This is higher than the 7-day average of 12.4%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests for the same individual. The percentage for the past day was 8.5%, which is below the average of 9.3% for 7 days.

[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]

Total up to now • 475,625 deaths; 2,693 deaths; 20,699 hospitalizations; 3,228,020 tested.