The Utah Department of Health has given daily updates to Utah, with epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn becoming a familiar face to Utahns concerned about COVID-19. Dr. Dunn has answered every question reporters could think of each time she takes the podium.
Now, Utah’s coronavirus website is as helpful as the people behind it.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the site began offering more than a simple map and list of Health Districts with the number of cases in each.*
The site now offers a breakdown of the age, gender, and hospitalization of confirmed COVID-19 patients. Each statistic helps us understand what our fellow Utahns are dealing with.
Among the trends in Utah:
- The largest age group of sufferers is relatively young: 400 of Utah confirmed cases are in people aged 25-44. 320 are 45-64 years old. 115 are 65-84 years old.
- Older Utahns are more likely to be hospitalized. 13% of those aged 45-64 are hospitalized. 25% of those aged 65 to 84 are hospitalized.
- In most age groups, men outnumber women, which reflects international trends as well.
Aside from the new statewide information, we continue to track day-to-day numbers in each county. We’ve also noticed that Utah and Washington Counties have seen spikes in their numbers, and Kane county has it’s first confirmed case.
*Strangely, the only “extra” bit of information on the site was a separation of visitors and residents listed, which is necessary I suppose for official counts but always seems like a kind of caste system: the real Utahns and those other people. Clearly this is not the intended message from Health workers. I’m a journalist, gotta be a little cynical!
