SALT LAKE CITY — For the fifth week in FOX 13’s tracking of COVID-19 case rates by county, Utah County has more positive test results per 100,000 residents than any other county, and this time they lead by a wide margin.
The chart below shows the 13 counties with more cases this week than last:
And this chart has a box for every county reporting at least one positive test result for the week from September 1-7.
In the following chart, we compare Utah’s mid-size counties by population. Those are the 10 counties with more than 20,000 residents but fewer than 100,000.
The biggest counties by population in this group are Tooele and Box Elder, but Summit and Wasatch counties consistently have more cases. It’s likely that is connected to their status as travel destinations.
Proximity to the Wasatch Front probably plays a role, but Tooele and Box Elder share that status, so a regular influx of visitors seems the more likely key.
This next chart shows Utah’s Big Six: the six counties with more than 100,000 residents each. Utah County’s case rate continues to climb, and this week the separation between Utah and the other counties is most dramatic.
Lastly, this final chart gives us a way to compare each county to itself.
The number is a simple subtraction: comparing this week to last. Negative numbers are positive, meaning the case rate decreased by that amount.
Weber and Davis have fluctuated more than the other counties in the Big 6. In this case, Weber had a good week last week so a relatively normal case number this week looks worse than it may be. Still, the goal is to keep trending downward, which is the point of this chart.