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Utah on Tuesday reported 32 new COVID-19 deaths — the most reported in a weekday count since the pandemic began.
The 32 Utahns died from COVID-19 over the span of a few weeks — seven in January, and 25 in February, though their deaths were all disclosed for the first time Tuesday.
The record for COVID-19 deaths in one day is Nov. 24, 2020, when 26 Utahns died in a single day. (The state had previously reported 33 deaths over a weekend on Jan. 24).
The state’s death toll since the pandemic began rose Tuesday to 4,223.
The Utah Department of Health also reported 1,341 new COVID-19 cases in the past day. That is the lowest number of new cases reported in Utah since Dec. 26, though Tuesday’s figure is likely an undercount.
New COVID-19 cases have been trending downward since they peaked in January at more than 13,000 in a single day. The state has averaged 2,396 new cases a day for the past week, which also is likely an undercount, because of recently identified reliability concerns with rapid tests previously administered at state-sponsored sites, as well as continued guidance that most Utahs not get tested for COVID-19 in an effort to ration tests.
Hospitalizations remained high Tuesday. There were 681 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Utah, down 28 from Monday but higher than the record before January — 606, in December 2020. State officials last month announced that a data error had caused inaccuracies in hospital counts for months, significantly undercounting them in January.
As of Tuesday, there were 165 COVID patients in intensive care units throughout the state. ICUs in the state’s larger “referral” hospitals were at 84.1 % capacity, just below the 85% threshold that hospital administrators have said is necessary to leave room for unpredictable staffing levels, new patients and availability of specialized equipment and personnel. ICUs in those larger hospitals have surpassed 85% occupancy almost continuously since late August.
Statewide, 80% of all ICU beds were filled as of Tuesday.
According to state data, 60.3% of Utahns were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday. However, researchers have found that a booster is crucial to prevent serious illness — and just 25.7% 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 • 45,558 / 4,868,942.
According to UDOH, about 41,800 of the doses reported Tuesday were administered over the past two months and had not been reported previously because of an error in the coding that gathers information from the vaccine database. Approximately 8,400 of those were first doses, approximately 6,400 were second doses, and approximately 27,000 were booster doses.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,960,197 — 60.3% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 9,920 in the past day.
Cases reported in the past day • 1,341.
Vaccination status • Health officials do not immediately have to release the vaccination status of individuals who test positive, who are hospitalized or who die. They do calculate the overall risk ratios of these outcomes depending on vaccination status, which is listed below.
Tests reported in the past day • A total of 41,949 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past day • 32.
There were 13 deaths in Salt Lake County: four men and a woman between the ages of 25-44; four men and a woman between the ages of 45-64; and a man and two women 85 or older.
Washington County reported four deaths — all men between the ages of 65-84. Davis County reported three deaths: a woman age 25-44, a man age 45-64, and a man age 65-94.
There were two deaths in Cache County — a man and a woman age age 65-84; two deaths in Utah County — a man age 65-84, and a man 85 or older; two deaths in Weber County — a man and a woman 85 or older; and two deaths in Summit County — both women between the ages of 65-84.
A Box Elder County man 85 or older also died, as well as a Duchesne County woman age 65-84, a Millard County man age 65-84, and a Uintah County woman age 45-64.
Utahns currently hospitalized with COVID-19 • 681. That is 28 fewer than reported on Monday. Of those currently hospitalized, 165 are in intensive care — down nine from Monday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 31.1% for the past day. That is lower than the seven-day average of 35.7%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Tuesday’s rate was 11.2%, lower than the seven-day average of 21.1%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Risk ratios • In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 8.3 times as likely to die of COVID-19 as vaccinated people were, according to a Utah Department of Health analysis. The unvaccinated also were 4.7 times as likely to be hospitalized, and 2.4 times as likely to test positive for the coronavirus.
Totals to date • 905,112 cases; 4,223 deaths; 32,106 hospitalizations; 4,847,158 tests administered.
