1,672 new COVID-19 cases and 9 additional deaths reported in Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah — The Utah Department of Health on Friday said nine more Utahns have died due to COVID-19 and 1,672 residents tested positive for the virus.

Of those cases, 358 (21.41%) were school-aged children — 148 cases in children ages 5-10, 96 cases in children ages 11-13, and 114 cases in children ages 14-18.

Currently, 587 Utahns are hospitalized due to the virus and the ICUs at Utah’s 16 referral center hospitals, where the majority of COVID-19 patients are treated, are 92.8% full — well above the state’s “functionally full” threshold of 85%.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 1,390 — down from 1,456 on Monday and 1,545 last Monday.

An additional 5,159 vaccine doses have been administered since Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 3,416,501.

UDOH said over 1.66 million Utahns are now fully vaccinated and over 1.88 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also fully approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

“The vaccine has been proven to be safe and highly effective since it first became available under emergency use last December. Full FDA approval is the final step in a rigorous approval process to confirm the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness,” UDOH officials said. “The FDA’s announcement should provide confidence to anyone who may have hesitated to get the vaccine while it was under emergency use. We strongly encourage you to get vaccinated and help end the pandemic. We also strongly encourage healthcare providers who haven’t offered COVID-19 vaccines at their practice before now, to take the necessary steps to enroll as vaccine providers as soon as possible.”