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The Utah Department of Health is continuing its effort to catch up on reporting all COVID-19 deaths in the state, adding 22 more to the death toll Friday. Seventeen of those deaths occurred before Feb. 25.
As case counts have decreased, state epidemiologists and local health departments have been reviewing past death certificate data to ensure all COVID-19 deaths are counted. Those reviews have identified 112 such cases out of the 132 deaths reported since Tuesday.
UDOH also reported 131 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, marking the 14th day in a row that the daily tally has been lower than 200, and the 21st day in a row that it has been below 250.
The average number of new cases so far in March is 175, and the average number of new cases in the past week is 127.
The addition of 22 more deaths reported Friday brings Utah’s coronavirus death toll to 4,702 since the pandemic began. One death reported on Thursday — a Salt Lake County man between the ages of 45-64 — has since been removed from the list “following additional information from the medical examiner’s office,” according to UDOH.
The number of people hospitalized in Utah with COVID-19 was 110 on Friday, one more than on Thursday. There were 22 coronavirus patients in intensive care units, two more than reported Thursday.
According to UDOH, 65.6% of Utah’s ICU beds are filled, which falls below the 85% threshold that healthcare workers have said is needed to have enough rooms, equipment and staff available to treat new patients. COVID-19 patients make up 6.5% of the state’s ICU patients.
A UDOH analysis continues to show that booster shots significantly decrease Utahns’ chances of dying of COVID-19. Over the past four weeks:
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is 4.4 times more likely to die than a fully vaccinated person, and 21.1 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is twice as likely to be hospitalized than a fully vaccinated person, and five times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person is 1.9 times as likely to contract the virus than a fully vaccinated person, and 1.9 times more likely than a boosted person.
While state data shows 61.5% of Utahns were fully vaccinated as of Friday, just 27.5% of all Utahns have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Find where to get vaccinated at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution. Find where to get tested at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations.
Breakdown of updated figures
Vaccine doses administered in the past day/total doses administered • 1,964 / 4,997,687.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,997,899 — 61.5% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 594 in the past day.
Cases reported during the past day • 131.
Tests reported in the past day • A total of 5,255 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past day• 22. Seventeen of the deaths occurred before Feb. 25.
Salt Lake County reported four deaths — a woman 25-44, two men 65-84, and a woman 85 or older. There were also four deaths in Utah County — two men 45-64, and two men 65-84.
Three Tooele County residents died — two men and a woman 65-84.
Four counties each reported two deaths. In Cache County, two men 65-84. In Davis County, a man 25-44, and a man 65-85. In Carbon County, a man 25-44, and a man 65-84. And in Weber County, a man 45-64, and a woman 85 or older.
And three counties each reported a single death — a Juab County woman 65-84; a San Juan County man 65-84; and a Washington County man 65-84.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 110 That’s one more than reported on Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized, 22 are in intensive care, two more than were reported Thursday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 5.4% over the past day. That’s higher than the seven-day average of 4.6%.
The state’s newer method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Friday’s rate was 2.5%, lower than the seven-day average of 2.7%.
Totals to date • 927,296 cases; 4,702 deaths; 33,927 hospitalizations; 9,383,566 tests administered.
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