Two more Utahns die from the coronavirus, and another 200 cases are reported.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People are lining up for the vaccine on Thursday, March 18, 2021, while the Utah Film Studios in Park City lends its space to the Summit County Health Department as a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination station.
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The number of Utahns fully vaccinated against COVID-19 rises to 800,000. Just over a third of the eligible population (34.4%) of residents 16 and older have received either single dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
And it was a typically slow Sunday, with relatively few tests (just over 5,000), relatively few new cases reported (200), and relatively few vaccinations (just over 1,300). According to the Utah Department of Health, two more Utahns died from the coronavirus, bringing the state’s total death toll from COVID-19 to 2,166.
Vaccine Doses Administered Over the Last Day / Total Doses Administered • 1,326 / 1,898,857.
Utahns fully vaccinated • 791,734.
Cases reported in the past day • 200.
Deaths reported in the past day • Two, both in Weber County – a man and a woman, each between the ages of 45 and 64.
Tests reported in the past day • 2,695 people were tested for the first time. A total of 5,021 people were tested.
Hospital admissions reported in the past day • 138. There are five more from Sunday. Of those currently hospitalized, 54 are in intensive care units – one less than on Sunday.
Percentage of positive tests • According to the state’s original method, the rate is 7.4%. That is higher than the seven-day average of 6.9%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests from the same person. Monday was 4.0%, higher than the seven-day average of 3.5%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals so far • 392,957 cases; 2,166 dead; 15,922 hospital admissions; 2,493,089 people tested.
On Monday, the Utah Department of Health made a change to the way it counts the number of COVID-19 tests per day. It previously reported one test per person per day.
But due to the use of antigen tests, which are often confirmed by PCR tests within the same day, UDOH now reports these confirmatory tests in its total test count. The percentage of positive tests is still calculated with one test per person per day.