SALT LAKE CITY – According to the Utah Department of Health, COVID-19 cases in Utah jumped 315 on Tuesday, with eight more deaths and 18,065 vaccinations.
Four of the deaths occurred before March 20, but were still under investigation by state medical inspectors, the health department said.
The health department estimates there were 8,477 active COVID-19 cases in Utah on Tuesday. The moving seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 375, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period, calculated with the “people over people” method, is now 6.7%. The positive test rate per day for that period, calculated with the “test over test” method, is now 3.2%.
There are currently 138 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Utah, including 54 in intensive care units, state data show. According to the health department, about 66% of all intensive care beds in Utah are now occupied, including about 69% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 51% of non-IC hospital beds are now occupied in the state.
A total of 1,916,922 vaccine doses were administered in the state, up from 1,898,857 on Monday. In total, 1,202,333 Utahns, or about 50.6% of all vaccine-eligible residents ages 16 and older, have now received at least one dose of the vaccine, the health department reported. In total, 799,291 Utahns, or about 33.6% of the state’s eligible population, are considered fully vaccinated.
According to the health department, about 24.9% of all Utahns, including children under the age of 16 who are not currently eligible for the vaccine, are now fully vaccinated. About 37.5% of all Utahns have now received at least one dose of vaccine. A total of 2,168,470 vaccine doses have been shipped to Utah so far, the health department reported.
The new numbers indicate an increase of 0.08% in positive cases since Monday. Of the 2,498,939 people tested for COVID-19 so far in Utah, 15.7% have tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests conducted since the Utah pandemic started now stands at 4,510,088, up from 13,574 since Monday, according to the health department. Of those, 5,100 were tests from people who had not previously been tested for the disease.
The eight deaths reported Tuesday were:
- A Carbon County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when she died
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when she died
- A Sanpete County woman over the age of 85 living in a long-term care facility
- A woman from Uintah County who was over 85 and living in a long-term care facility
- A woman in Uintah County who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Utah County man over the age of 85 living in a long-term care facility
- A Weber County man who was between the ages of 25 and 44 and was hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Weber County who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
Tuesday’s totals give Utah 393,272 total confirmed cases, with 15,959 total hospitalizations and 2,174 total deaths from the disease. The health department estimates that there are now 382,621 recovered COVID-19 cases in Utah.
Utah’s pandemic “endgame” law, formally known as HB294, requires all state and local health ordinances related to COVID-19 to end the day Utah hits the threshold in three key metrics: The 14-Day Case of the state is less than 191 per 100,000 people, the seven-day average of COVID-19 intensive care unit use is less than 15%, and 1,633,000 prime doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been assigned to Utah.
From Tuesday, the threshold will be reached in the first two statistics. The current COVID-19 rate per 100,000 people in Utah is now 170.4, and the COVID-19 ICU use average for the past week is now 11.3%, state data shows.
A total of 1,335,645 prime doses have been assigned to Utah as of Tuesday. The state is expected to meet the benchmark of 1,633,000 prime doses in the second or third week of May. The first dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine cycles, as well as the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are considered prime doses.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson are scheduled to provide a COVID-19 pandemic update at their weekly press conference Thursday at 11 a.m., according to the governor’s office.
Also Tuesday, the health department announced that state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn will leave her position this summer to become executive director of the Salt Lake County health department.
