1 Million Utahns Fully Vaccinated As Dept. Of Health Reports 4 Deaths, 386 New COVID Cases

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Officials with the Utah Department of Health on Friday said four more Utahns have died due to COVID-19 and 386 residents have tested positive for the virus.

UDOH said one of those deaths occurred before April 1 and 137 people are currently hospitalized with the virus.

An additional 19,014 vaccines have been administered, bringing the state’s total to more than 2.26 million.

UDOH also said over 1 million Utahns are now fully vaccinated.

For more information, visit coronavirus.utah.gov.

Gov. Spencer Cox previously announced any organization can request a mobile vaccination clinic as part of efforts to reach out to more Utahns.

He also said there is no excuse for people not to get a vaccine because they are widely available and there are many appointments available across the state right now — including walk-in appointments in Salt Lake County.

Thursday was state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn’s final press conference.

Testing

UDOH reports 2,594,327 people have been tested — 5,450 more than Thursday. Of those, 399,760 Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19 — an increase of 386 new cases.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 349 — up from 343 on Thursday.

The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “people over people” remained at 6.7% while the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests” remained at 3.5%.

Vaccinations

The state has administered 2,261,285 vaccines in total, which is an increase of 19,014 over Thursday’s numbers. As of Friday, over 1.33 million Utahns had received at least one dose of a vaccine and over 1 million Utahns had been fully vaccinated.

Over 2.7 million vaccines have been delivered to Utah.

Hospitalizations

Currently, 137 people are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 55 of those people were in intensive care units.

Utah’s ICUs were 71.8% full and the ICU beds in Utah’s referral centers were 75.3% full Friday.

“At about 69% overall ICU utilization, ICUs in Utah’s major hospitals with the ability to provide best care for COVID-19 patients begin to reach staffing capacity,” UDOH officials said. “Seventy-two percent use among all hospitals and 77% in referral center hospitals creates major strains on the health care system. When 85% capacity is reached, Utah will be functionally out of staffed ICU beds, indicating an overwhelmed hospital system.”

Deaths

Four additional deaths were reported Thursday. UDOH said one of the deaths occurred before April 1.

To date, the virus has killed 2,223 of the state’s residents.

The following deaths were reported Friday:

• Female, older than 85, Kane County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
• Male, between 45-64, Weber County resident, hospitalized at time of death
• Male, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
• Male, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death

How do I prevent it?

The CDC has some simple recommendations, most of which are the same for preventing other respiratory illnesses or the flu:

• Avoid close contact with people who may be sick
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay home when you are sick
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. Always wash your hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
• If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies.)