facebook-pixel

15 more Utahns die of COVID-19, and one was between the ages of 15-24

Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.

Fifteen more Utahns have died of COVID-19 in the past day, and one of them was a female between the ages of 15-24, the Utah Department of Health announced Wednesday.

There were 1,786 new cases, which brought the total number of cases recorded statewide to 506,790 since the pandemic began.

Intensive care units in Utah hospitals are at 94.8% capacity, and 36% of those in ICU beds are hospitalized with COVID-19.

School-age children accounted for 23% of new coronavirus cases, the state health department announced — a total of 405. There were 176 cases in children aged 5 to 10; 105 cases in children 11 to 13; and 124 cases in children 14 to 18.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests stands at 1,330 per day.

In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 5.4 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a UDOH analysis. The unvaccinated also were 7.6 times more likely to be hospitalized and 6.5 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.

An additional 4,391 Utahns were fully vaccinated in the past two days, bringing the total to 1,681,943 — 51.4% of Utah’s total population. (No vaccination update was reported Tuesday because of a database error, according to UDOH.)

Vaccine doses administered in past two days / total doses administered • 35,576 / 3,465,962.

Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,681,943.

Cases reported in past day • 1,786.

Deaths reported in past day • 15.

There were six deaths in Utah County: A female between the ages of 15-24, four men 65-84, and one man 85-plus.

Salt Lake County reported four deaths: A man 25-44, a man and a woman 65-84, and a man 85-plus.

Two Davis County residents died: A man 45-64, and a woman 65-84. There were also two deaths in Weber County: A woman 65-84 and a man 85-plus.

Tooele County reported the death of a woman 65-84.

Tests reported in past day • 11,017 people were tested for the first time. A total of 20,459 people were tested.

Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 471. That’s 110 fewer than reported on Tuesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 178 are in intensive care — 35 fewer than reported on Tuesday.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 16.2% over the past day. That is higher than the seven-day average of 14%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. The rate reported Tuesday was 8.7% — lower than the seven-day average of 10%.

[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]

Totals to date • 506,790 cases; 2,920 deaths; 22,101 hospitalizations; 3,444,170 people tested.

This story is developing and will be updated.